74
Acts 13:50  PAUL AND BARNABAS RAN OUT OF TOWN

Introduction:  

	Upon their arrival at Antioch of Pisidia Paul and Barnabas had at first 
received a grand welcome at the Jewish synagogue.  The following sabbath 
virtually the entire city turned to hear them.  This included mostly Gentiles.  
	Paul once again spoke to the people about Jesus, but the Jewish leaders of 
the synagogue spoke in opposition.  Paul and Barnabas announced that they would 
turn to the Gentiles.  
	In our text today the Jewish leaders stir up more opposition to Paul and 
Barnabas and the opposition runs Paul and Barnabas out of the city.  

I.  A reminder of God’s goodness

	Before we examine our text let me remind you of the marvelous goodness of 
God.  Every good thing that man has is given to him by the God of heaven, James 
1:17.  God made it possible for man to put a few little seed in the ground and 
produce a great amount of food.  Every bite of food that man eats is given to 
him by the Lord.  Every piece of clothes that he wears is from God.  The light 
which enables him to see and the air that he breathes are from God.  God gives 
man water to drink and to use for many other purposes.  When a man gets cured of 
an illness it is God who made that possible.  All of the gold, silver, diamonds, 
rubies, oil, uranium and whatever else man is enabled to possess and use belongs 
to God.  The cattle of a thousand hills and even the hills belong to God.  Out 
of the goodness of His heart God hears and answers prayer.  
	The greatest thing that God has ever done for man was to send His Son 
Jesus Christ to the cross to die so that He would provide a way for sinful man 
to be saved and go to heaven.  In order for God to provide salvation for man it 
was necessary for Him to send Jesus to the cross, John 3:16.  
	It seems so strange that any man would be in opposition to God and would 
persecute those who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to lost sinners.  However, 
that is what takes place in our text.  

II.  The culprits behind the opposition

	V. 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.”  The Jewish leaders in the synagogue at 
Antioch are the culprits behind the opposition.  These are descendants of 
Abraham who was called “a friend of God” and yet these men were enemies of God.  
	They were in the same nation which had, under the leadership of Moses, 
made a covenant with God.  But, unlike Moses, they stood in opposition to the 
Son of God and, therefore, in opposition to God the Father.  
 	They were also in the nation which had been led by such godly men as King 
David, a man after God’s own heart.  But they had broken from the leadership of 
King David and had followed the leadership of the ungodly Sanhedrin Council of 
Jerusalem, which had brought about the crucifixion of Jesus.  
	They spoke against Jesus Christ to that great crowd of people who had 
gathered to hear Paul and Barnabas and they spoke against Paul and Barnabas who 
had spoken proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ.  
	Luke says that the Jewish leaders of the synagogue then set about to stir 
up the anger of certain women in Antioch against Paul and Barnabas.  The fact 
that these women were so easily influenced by the leaders of the synagogue 
indicated that the women, themselves were members of that synagogue.  They were 
women who were admired and respected by most people in the synagogue and by many 
people in the city of Antioch.  These women became very angry at Paul and 
Barnabas because they felt that these preachers were a threat to their Jewish 
religion.  
	Luke also says that the Jewish leaders stirred up the anger of leaders in 
the city of Antioch against Paul and Barnabas.  It seems that the Jewish leaders 
actually used the women of their synagogue to stir up the anger of the men of 
the city.  These women, no doubt, were good customers to the business men of the 
city and had a great influence even upon the city officials.  Therefore, the 
women stirred up the anger of the business men and the city officials against 
Paul and Barnabas.  
	Their influence was so great that they were even able to influence a 
goodly number of the ordinary citizens of the city and turn them against Paul 
and Barnabas.  These were people who had previously flocked out to the synagogue 
to hear Paul and Barnabas, but now they were very angry with them.  So with the 
aid of certain women of the synagogue the Jewish leaders were able to rally the 
business men, the city officials and a large number of citizens and run Paul and 
Barnabas out of the city.  

III.  The master-mind behind this opposition

	The real source of the opposition was not the Jewish leaders nor the women 
of the city nor the business men and city officials.  The real source of the 
opposition was that old Devil, Satan himself.  The Devil is the real source of 
all opposition to God, to God’s truth and to all that is good.  
	Satan is the one who prompted woman in the Garden of Eden to oppose the 
word of God and to lead Adam to eat the forbidden fruit.  He uses that same 
tactic against Paul and Barnabas.  He gets the women of the synagogue to do his 
dirty work.  
	Satan is the one who led the opposition against Jesus and caused Him to be 
crucified.  Satan is the one who now led the opposition against Paul and 
Barnabas in the city of Antioch of Pisidia.  
	Satan is the one who lead the opposition to God in the world today.  He 
leads the opposition to the word of God, to the churches of God, and to the 
gospel of God.  It is Satan who some day soon will lead the Anti-Christ and The 
False Prophet in end-time events.  

IV.  The opposition today 

	The Devil is still in the business of opposing God, God’s word, God’s 
churches and God’s cause today.  He seeks to prevent the unsaved from ever 
hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When the unsaved person does hear the 
gospel the Devil tries to blind his mind so that he will not believe the gospel 
and be saved.  He still uses false religious leaders to promote his heresies and 
to denounce the truths of God.  He still influence ungodly women of the Women’s 
Liberation movement to speak out against the moral standards of God and to 
denounce true Christianity.  He uses the news media and the entertainment 
industry and some politicians to denounce true Christians as being radicals. 
	But there is a limit to what the Devil can do.  He could not prevent a 
church from being organized in Antioch.  He could run Paul and Barnabas out of 
the city, but he could not run all of the new-born Christians out of the city.  
	He could not prevent the gospel from being spread to all the region about 
Antioch.  In verse forty-nine it is said that the gospel was spread to all of 
the little villages and towns around the city of Antioch.  
	When he ran Paul and Barnabas out of Antioch he just cut his own throat.  
They just went to another city, preached the gospel there, won many souls to 
Christ there and established a church there to carry on business for the Lord.  
	Right now today, the Devil cannot prevent anyone from being saved if that 
person will repent of his sin and call on Jesus Christ to have mercy on his 
soul.  When one calls on Jesus Christ for salvation, Jesus Christ saves that 
person whoever he may be.  Neither can he prevent the Holy Spirit from 
convicting lost sinners of their sin and urging them to believe the gospel 
message and trust Jesus Christ for salvation.  

Conclusion:

	If there is an unsaved person in this congregation who wants to be saved, 
the Devil cannot stop you from being saved if you will call on Jesus for 
salvation.  If you will call on Jesus now, Jesus will save you now.  
	If you are already saved and you want to give yourself in service to the 
Lord the Devil cannot stop you from doing so if you are willing to let the Lord 
have His way with your life.  
	If you wish to come and place your membership here in this church to serve 
the Lord, will you step right out and come.  .