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Acts 13:46-49  PAUL AND BARNABAS TURNING TO THE GENTILES

Introduction:

	Paul and Barnabas had been asked to return to the Jewish synagogue in 
Antioch of Pisidia on the next sabbath day to tell the people more about Jesus.  
When they arrived at the synagogue almost the whole city of Antioch was present 
to hear them.  Most of those people were not members of the synagogue.  They 
were Gentiles.  
	In our text last Sunday the Jewish leaders of the synagogue and spoke out 
against them denying that Jesus had been raised from the dead and denying that 
Jesus is the promised Savior.  
	Luke had said that one reason the Jews leaders had spoken in contradiction 
to Paul’s message about Jesus was that they were envious and jealous of Paul and 
Barnabas.  They were afraid that they would lose their positions of leadership 
to Paul and Barnabas.  
	Luke does not mention it, but we will see some evidence that there must 
have been a second reason why the Jewish leaders spoke in opposition to what 
Paul and Barnabas said.  They did not like the idea of Paul preaching that 
Gentile people could be forgiven of their sins without first becoming proselyte 
Jews.  

I.  Paul and Barnabas turning to the Gentiles

	V. 46, “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold...”  Luke says that Paul and 
Barnabas were not intimidated by the Jewish leaders who denied the truth of 
their message about Jesus.  I feel quite sure that the Jewish leaders thought 
that when they spoke out denying all that Paul and Barnabas had said about 
Jesus, that this would silence these two missionaries, this would settle the 
matter and that the great crowd of Gentiles present would go home.  But Paul and 
Barnabas were not intimidated.  Instead of silencing Paul and Barnabas, the 
opposition by the leaders of the synagogue just set them on fire and they spoke 
out all the more on behalf of Jesus.  Let me tell you that persecution seldom 
ever silences true Christians.  It just stirs their determination to speak out 
for Jesus.  
	We should take special note that Paul and Barnabas did not lash out 
against in a verbal attack upon the Jewish leaders.  What they did was to speak 
out in behalf of Jesus.  
	(V. 46), “...and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first 
have been spoken to you...”  That is, it was necessary for us to first present 
the word of God to the Jews rather than to Gentiles.  When Jesus gave the Great 
Commission as recorded in Luke 24:47, Jesus had said that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.  
This means that it was to first be preached to Jews.  Then back in Acts 1:8 when 
Jesus spoke to the church at Jerusalem, He had said that the Christians should 
go first to Jerusalem and to all Judea.  This, too, means that the gospel was 
first to go to Jews.  After preaching the gospel at Jerusalem and all Judea, the 
Christians were to go to Samaria and on to the uttermost part of the world.
	This set the precedent for preaching the gospel first to the Jews and also 
gave instructions that it was to be preached to distant lands.  Even in distant 
lands it was first to be preached to the Jews.  This is what Paul and Barnabas 
had done at all the Gentile cities which they had visited.  The first thing they 
did in those Gentiles cities was to go to the Jewish synagogue and preach the 
gospel.  This is what they had done there at Antioch of Pisidia.  They had first 
gone to the Jewish synagogue and preached to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ 
and that the people of that Jewish synagogue could have all of their sins 
forgive by placing their faith in Jesus as the Savior whom God had promised 
through the prophets of old.  
	It was the plan of God the Father in heaven that the gospel should first 
be preached to the Jews, but it was never intended that the gospel should be 
limited to Jews only.  Even in the Great Commission Jesus had made it clear that 
although the gospel message was to be preached first to the Jews, yet it was to 
be carried to all the world --- and that meant that it should be carried to the 
Gentiles also.  Likewise in Acts 1:8 Jesus made it clear that although they 
Christians were to begin at Jerusalem with their message about Jesus, yet they 
were to carry the message of salvation to the people of all the world  --- and 
that means that it should be carried to the Gentiles.  This, Paul and Barnabas 
had done at Antioch.  They had preached the gospel first to the Jewish synagogue 
and thank God --- some of the people of the synagogue had been saved.  These 
were Jews and Gentiles who were proselyte Jews.  But now the Jewish leaders 
speak out in opposition to what Paul and Barnabas preached about Jesus.  
	Therefore Paul said to the Jewish leaders, (V. 46), “...but seeing ye put 
it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to 
the Gentiles.”  By saying that the Jewish leaders had judged themselves unworthy 
of everlasting life, Paul spoke, of course, in sarcasm.  The truth of the matter 
is that most Jewish leaders thought the Jewish people were the only ones worthy 
of eternal life.  They thought that Jews were the only ones who were worthy of 
going to heaven. They thought that because they had Abraham as their forefather 
that they and they alone had the right to go to heaven.  They thought that the 
only way a Gentile could go to heaven is by joining the Jewish religion becoming 
a proselyte Jew.  
	Paul said that those Jewish leaders were rejecting the gospel.  Paul said 
that by rejecting the gospel message which they had preached unto them, that 
those Jewish leaders had rejected God’s offer of salvation.  God had not 
rejected them so that they could not be saved.  God had offered salvation first 
to them.  But they themselves had rejected God.  They rejected God by refusing 
to believe in the Son of God whom God had sent to be their Savior.  God had not 
refused them the opportunity to be saved, but they themselves had refused to 
accept the opportunity to be saved which God had given to them.  
	Paul said that since those Jews had refused to God’s message of salvation, 
that he and Barnabas would leave them alone and give their time and attention to 
preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.  

II.  Not the first time that Gentiles had been preached to

	Paul did not mean to imply that this would be the first time that the 
gospel message had been given to Gentiles.  The first effort to preach the 
gospel to anyone other than Jews was recorded back in Acts chapter 8 when Philip 
and other Christians who were scattered by persecution preached the gospel to 
Samaritans.  It is true that Samaritans did have Jewish blood in them, but they 
were not really Jews by their blood line.  They were half-breeds.  Neither were 
they Jews by their religion.  It is true that they had a lot of Jewish beliefs 
and practices in their religion, but they also had a lot of beliefs and 
practices in their religion which had come from the Gentiles.  They were half-
breeds in their blood line and they were half breeds in their religion.  Yet 
when the Christians were scattered from Jerusalem by persecution, persecution 
which Paul himself had initiated against them, those Christians did not hesitate 
to preach to the Samaritans because of the Jewish blood which they had.    
	The second step in the direction of preaching the gospel to Gentiles had 
been taken  when Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch.  The 
Ethiopian eunuch was not of the Jewish blood line.  He was not even a half-breed 
Jew.  He had no Jewish blood in him.  He was altogether of the Gentile blood 
line.  But he was of the Jewish religion.  He was a proselyte Jew.  He had just 
been to the city of Jerusalem attending Jewish worship services as a proselyte 
Jew.  Philip preached the gospel to him --- a proselyte Jew --- and he got 
saved.    	
	The third step toward preaching to the Gentiles was back in Antioch of 
Syria before Paul and Barnabas had ever been sent out on the mission field.  In 
Antioch of Syria Paul and Barnabas became a team whose primary occupation was 
teaching and training the new Christians at Antioch in Christian beliefs and 
Christian practices.  But they had also preached the gospel in a city that was 
predominantly Gentile --- although at that time they preached only to the Jews.  
They were not preaching then to Gentiles, but they were preaching the gospel in 
a Gentile city and that was a big step in the direction toward preaching to 
Gentiles.    
	The fourth step toward preaching to Gentiles had been done in the city of 
Caesaria by the Apostle Peter.  Peter preached the gospel to an entire Gentile 
household.  He preached the gospel to the household of Cornelious.  This was the 
first time that a Jewish man had preached the gospel to Gentile people who were 
neither half-breed Jews  nor proselyte Jews who had joined the Jewish faith.  .  
	The fifth step toward turning to the Gentiles with the gospel had taken 
place back at Antioch of Syria when some Christian brethren from Cyprus and 
Cyrene were the first Jews to preach openly to the Gentile public.  They 
preached not just to one Gentile family as Simon Peter had done.  They preached 
to whatever Gentle people in that city would listen to their message about Jesus 
and about salvation through faith in Jesus.  The result was that a large number 
of Gentile people in Antioch of Syria had been saved and had become members of 
the church located in that city.     
	The sixth step was taken at Antioch of Syria when that church, which by 
this time had a sizable number of Gentiles in their membership, had laid hands 
on the two missionaries, Paul and Barnabas to send them out to preach the gospel 
and to preach it primarily to Gentiles.  

III.  Preaching the gospel to Gentiles definitely in the will of God

	V. 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.”
Paul said that God had made it clear from the time that He called them out to be 
missionaries, that they were being sent to preach the gospel to Gentiles.  It 
should be noted that Paul and Barnabas did not personally go to the ends of the 
earth preaching the gospel nor was it intended that they should do so.  But the 
work that started by them was to continue until the gospel was carried to the 
ends of the earth.  They started a trend which would result in Christians 
preaching the gospel to Gentile people throughout the world.  This was the 
express will of God for the Apostle Paul and  Barnabas.  
	It was never God’s desire for the Jewish people to turn their backs upon 
the gospel.  God sent the gospel first to the Jews.  God wanted the Jews to be 
saved.  God sent the gospel to the world so that “whosoever will may come and 
take the water of life freely,” and that included the Jews.  Even after turning 
to the Gentiles God made it clear that He still wanted the Jews to be saved.  
But when the Jews made it clear that they did not want God’s missionaries in 
their synagogue preaching that salvation is by the grace of God through faith in 
Jesus Christ, it was the will of God to preach the gospel to those who were 
willing to hear it and to believe it.  
	Listen, my brethren, that same principle holds true today.  God wants all 
people everywhere to hear the gospel message and be saved.  But if a man is not 
willing to believe God’s message of salvation and is not willing to repent of 
his sin and is not willing to place his trust in Jesus Christ, then God will 
leave him alone and God will move on to somebody who is willing to listen to His 
gospel message.

IV.  The reaction to the gospel by the Gentiles
 
	V. 48, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified 
the word of the Lord...”  Back in verses 42-44 the Gentiles had already 
expressed great joy at the opportunity to hear the gospel message.  That was 
while the Paul and Barnabas were still preaching primarily to the Jews.  But now 
that Paul and Barnabas were preaching primarily to the Gentiles, they were 
overjoyed.  They were beside themselves with joy.  
	I am confident that the Gentiles did not rejoice that God had turned away 
from the Jews, but rather, that the gospel was being preached openly to 
Gentiles.  It must have seemed strange to those Gentiles to hear two Jewish men 
openly admit that the way to heaven was open to people other than Jews and 
proselyte Jews.  
	(V. 48), “...and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”  The 
Gentiles were so overjoyed that they had free access to the road to heaven 
without having to go through the Jewish synagogue that great numbers of them 
trusted in Jesus and got saved.  
	There is a technical matter in the later part of verse 48 to which we need 
to give some attention.  Luke states that as many as were ordained to eternal 
life believed.  That statement is thought by some to mean that God has chosen 
certain people to eternal life without regard to His foreknowledge of their 
repentance and faith in Jesus.  They say that the ones God has chosen can 
believe and be saved, but that all others cannot believe and cannot be saved 
because they have not been chosen.
	This most definitely is not what this verse is talking about.  What this 
verse is talking about is that God knew in advance who would believe in Jesus 
and that on that basis He has already ordained them to eternal life.  But the 
point is that God ordained them to eternal life because He knew that they were 
going to believe.  In Romans 8:29 we read, “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.”  God has ordained to eternal life those whom He 
foreknew would believe in Jesus.  He has ordained to eternal life only those 
whom He foreknew would believe in Jesus Christ.  
	The main point that this verse is making is that many of the Gentile 
people did believe in Jesus and got saved.  This was true not only at Antioch 
there in Pisidia, but it was also true in all of that whole are of the country.  
V. 49, “And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.”
	The implication is that it was mainly the Gentiles who were receptive to 
the gospel message.  It was mainly Gentiles who believed in Jesus and got saved.  
Paul and Barnabas went to the big city of Antioch and preached the gospel.  From 
that large populated city the gospel spread to all of the little cities and 
villages around.  But it was mainly the Gentiles who believed the gospel and got 
saved.    
	Those people got saved because they were willing to hear the word of God.  
They were willing to believe the word of God.  They were willing to repent of 
their sins in order to be forgiven of their sins.  They were willing to place 
their faith in Jesus and to trust Jesus to save their souls and not try to get 
to heaven by their own works of righteousness.  

V.  Some very important questions

	With these things in mind, there are some very important questions that I 
have for you.  First of all, let me ask you, “What do you think about the word 
of God?”  Do you think that God speaks with absolute authority and that whatever 
God says is absolutely right or do you think that your own opinion is more 
important and more authoritative than the word of God? 
	 Do you think that the word of God is the single most important message in 
the world for you and that you should take every opportunity to hear it and to 
try to understand it and to believe it and to apply it to your life?  Or do you 
think that you have  better things to do with your time than to listen to the 
word of God when it is taught in the classroom or preached from the pulpit?
	Do you think that you have the authority to overrule what God has said and 
to place your own opinions above what the God of heaven has said in His word?
	And while I am asking questions, let me ask you this:  What do you think 
about your sins?  Do you think that it is a light thing that you have broken the 
law of heaven and that you have sinned against the God of heaven?  Are you aware 
that by your sin you have committed a grievous wrong?  Are you even aware that 
you need to acknowledge your sin to God and to repent of your sin to God and to 
ask God to forgive you of your sins for Jesus sake?  
	Are you aware that in order for God to forgive your sins that God had to 
send His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to suffer in your stead 
so that He could forgive you of your sin?  Are you aware that God loves you so 
much that He was willing to allow His Son to go to the cross and to bear the 
penalty of your sin for you?  
	Are you aware that God lays the responsibility of accepting the gospel 
message squarely upon you?  God sent Jesus to die for you and God has sent the 
gospel message to you and you can either accept God’s offer of salvation or you 
can reject it.  But are you aware that if you do not want God bothering you with 
the gospel message that He will stop bothering you and He will let you go to 
your grave lost and hell bound?  If you do not want the gospel message God will 
leave you alone and He will go on to somebody who wants to be saved.  
	
Conclusion:

	Listen, I am going to call upon you to turn to God while you have a chance 
and to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to save your soul?