75 Acts 13:51-52 JOY AMONG THE DISCIPLES AT ANTIOCH Introduction: The Apostle Paul and Barnabas had come to Antioch of Pisidia to do mission work. This was a city in a nation which is now known as Turkey. They preached the gospel first in the Jewish synagogue which was located there. Then the following sabbath virtually the whole city came out to hear them preach. They preached that Jesus is the Savior whom God had promised through the Jewish prophets of old had promised would come. They told the people that Jesus is the Son of God and that He had been raised from the dead. They told all the people, including the Gentiles who had come out to hear them that if one would believe in Jesus he would be forgiven of all his sins. A large number of people believed their message and were saved. But the Jewish leaders of the synagogue rejected their message and denounced them to the people, telling the people that what they were saying about Jesus was not true. The Jewish leaders of the synagogue then set about to stir up the anger of some of the prominent women of the synagogue against Paul and Barnabas. The women, in turn, stirred up the anger of the business men and city officials against Paul and Barnabas. The business men and city officials, who then stirred up the anger of a large number of the citizens of the city against Paul and Barnabas. The result was that Paul and Barnabas were run out of the city. I. The departure of Paul and Barnabas V. 51, “ But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.” Paul and Barnabas had to leave Antioch. Their lives would have been in danger if they had tried to stay. They would cease to be of service to God if they were to stay and get killed. So they left. Luke tells us that as they left they shook the dust of the city off their feet. This was in keeping with instructions from Jesus back when He had sent the disciples out two by two to go through the cities and villages of Israel. Jesus had told them then that if a city would receive them well and believe their message, they were to pronounce the blessings of God upon it, but if a city would not believe their message they were to leave that city and shake the dust of that city off their feet. God would then punish that city for rejecting His message. So as they left the city of Antioch, they shook the dust of that city off their feet as a token that God would punish that city for their rejection of His message. It should be noted, however, that this action of shaking off the dust of the city from their feet is not to be understood as a token of God’s displeasure with all of the people of the city. There had been a sizable number of the people of Antioch who had believed their message about Jesus and had been saved. Paul and Barnabas had called those people together and bonded them in to a group, instructing them to unite their efforts together to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, a church had been organized from the new disciples and when Paul and Barnabas shook the dust of the city off their feet this was not intended as a token of God’s displeasure against them. To the contrary. God was highly pleased with them and, as we will see in the next verse, poured out his blessings upon them as individuals and as a church. II. A surprising joy which came to the disciples whom Paul and Barnabas left behind at Antioch V. 52, “And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” The word, disciples, in this verse refers to the newly made disciples that Paul and Barnabas had made in the city of Antioch. These were disciples in the newly formed church at Antioch. Luke says that these disciples were filled with great joy and they were filled with the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. It does not come as a surprise to me that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, but I must confess that it did come as a surprise to me that they were filled with joy at this particular time. In just a very brief period of time they had become very appreciative of both Paul and Barnabas and I thought that surely they would be greatly disturbed and upset that the opponents of the gospel had run both Paul and Barnabas out of town. So at first I could not see how they could be so filled with joy when Paul and Barnabas had been run out of town. After giving the matter some thought I do understand now. One of the first things I had to realize was they were not joyful that Paul and Barnabas had been run off. It was just that they were joyful in spite of the fact that Paul and Barnabas had been run off. They took the matter calmly because they had been filled with the Holy Spirit of God, who is the Great Comforter, and the Holy Spirit of God comforted their hearts by strengthening their faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were just thankful that Paul and Barnabas had come their way and had preached the gospel to them before they got run off. They could just leave it to God to take care of Paul and Barnabas. III. Some reasons why the disciples were full of joy I want to cite you to several reasons which account for the great joy which the disciples at Antioch experienced. They had the joy of knowing that God, the Heavenly Father, loved them. Those disciples who had been members of the Jewish synagogue surely knew about the Old Testament promises that God would some day send the Messiah, the Christ. Those promises had been made many hundreds of years ago. Jews for many generations had been looking for His coming, but He had not come in those generations past. They must have taken it as a special blessing from God the Father that God had sent the Savior during their particular generation. This reassured them of God’s love for them had so loved them that He would send the Christ in their generation. Those disciples who had not been members of the Jewish synagogue had, as Gentiles, been brought up in idolatry. They had not been taught that the gods whom they served loved them. They had been taught that they must serve those gods or else the gods would become angry with them and severely punish them. It was astounding new to them that there is a God who loves them and who wants to forgive their sins. It was astounding news to them to hear that God would send His own Son, His only fleshly begotten son, to die on a cross in order to save them and take them to heaven. So in spite of the fact that Paul and Barnabas had been run out of town, they were still excited about God’s love for them and their hearts were filled with joy. In addition to being joyful because of God’s love for them, they had the joy of knowing that their sins were forgiven. Paul and told them that if they would trust in Jesus their Savior, their sins would be forgiven. All their sins would be forgiven! These were people whose very conscience had made them aware that they were sinners and they longed to be forgiven of their sin. Many of them knew of no way whereby they could be forgiven of sin. But in keeping with what Paul had told them, they had trusted Jesus and were thus assured that their sins were forgiven. All their sins were forgiven. What a reason for anyone to rejoice! Still another thing that must have thrilled their hearts and filled them with joy was the knowledge that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were well aware that death comes to all men and they must have hoped for a life of peace and joy in the hereafter, but prior to this, they had no real hope for joy in the hereafter. They had no real assurance that there would be a hereafter for them. But now that they know that Jesus has risen from the dead, they not only know that there will be a hereafter, but now know that God will raise them from the dead and there will be a glorious hereafter for them. So in spite of the fact that Paul and Barnabas are gone, their hearts are filled with joy. There may have been many other reasons why they were filled with joy, but I will mention only one more. They were filled with joy because they now had a great fellowship with one another and with God. When Paul and Barnabas came and preached the gospel message to them and they believed in Jesus to the salvation of their souls, they found a new fellowship in their lives. They found a place in their hearts for Paul and Barnabas. They also found a place in their hearts for the others who believed in Jesus. But in addition to the fellowship that they now had with their fellow Christians they found a new fellowship with God Himself. So in spite of the absence of Paul and Barnabas, the sweet fellowship which they found with one another and with God filled their hearts with joy. IV. The joy which Christians experience today I think that you who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior can identify with the joy which the disciples at Antioch experienced. In spite of the turmoil in the city which led to Paul and Barnabas being driven from the city, the new Christians there at Antioch had joy in their hearts. Even so it is with Christians today. In spite of trouble and turmoil, in spite of sickness and suffering, those who have Jesus Christ as their Savior have a joy within their hearts that nothing in this world can take away. It is a joy that comes because of the assurance which we have deep within our souls that God loves us. He loves us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son to die for us on Calvary that we might be saved and go to heaven. In spite of trouble and turmoil in this world, we have joy in our hearts because our own personal sins are forgiven. Because we have trusted Jesus all of our sin ---ALL OF OUR SIN --- is forgiven and we have peace with God. We have a peace that passes all understanding. We know that we have a home -- a better home -- awaiting us in heaven and we have joy in our souls. In spite of the sorrow and suffering which we endure in this world we have joy in our hearts because we have a great fellowship with our fellow Christians. Our fellow church members are so dear to our hearts that they are like our own flesh and blood brothers and we have great joy by coming to the house of God and fellowshipping with our fellow Christians. In spite of whatever happens in this world we have great joy in our hearts because we have fellowship with God Himself. When we were born again the Holy Spirit of God came to dwell within our own spirit and we have warm sweet fellowship with God, the Supreme Ruler of this universe. We can talk to God who sits on His throne in heaven and know that He listens to what we say to Him. We are not able to reach out and lay our hands upon God in a material physical way, but there by faith we can lay our hand in His hand and know that all is well. So we can identify with those Christians at Antioch because we have a joy in our hearts that is similar to the joy that was in their hearts. V. The same kind of joy offered to all The same kind of joy which the Antioch Christians experienced and which we, as Christians, experience today is offered to all. No matter what kind of turmoil is around you, God offers you peace and joy within. He offers forgiveness of sin. He offers forgiveness of all your sin. He offers you the assurance of heaven above. He offers you a special kind of joy and fellowship with fellow Christians through church membership and church attendance. He offers you the joy of drawing, oh, so very close to God Himself. If you will draw near to God, He will draw near to you and you will find joy and satisfaction in the fellowship that you have with Him. But in order to find this joy and this fellowship, you who are lost must repent of your sin and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him to save your soul. Those of us who are already saved and members of the church must seek to keep our lives within the will of God in order for us to maintain this joy. Once we are saved, we are kept saved by the power of God. We do not have to keep ourselves saved. The Lord who saved us will keep us saved. But we do have to stay close to God in order to keep the joy of our salvation. Conclusion: Who will turn to God today and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to save your soul? What Christian will come expressing a desire to place your membership here in this church to find Christian fellowship here and to give yourself in service to God? Is there perhaps some Christian here who has been out of the will of God who desires to come and get back in God’s will and find the Christian joy that you once had? If so will you come and let God have His way?