PT-3 "The Negative Response" (Acts 13:45-47)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/5/2018 8:18 AM

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-3 “The Negative Response”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 13:45-47

            Message of the verses:  “45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. 46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate (renounce) it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 “For so the Lord has commanded us, ’I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’"”

            We have been talking about man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty in this section, especially from what we read in verse 46, the highlighted section.  As mentioned these Jewish people took it upon themselves to turn down the gift of eternal life. 

            I promised to end this section with a quote from J. I. Packer, who John MacArthur quoted in his commentary:

“The particular antinomy which concerns us here is the apparent opposition between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, or (putting it more biblically) between what God does as King and what He does as Judge.  Scripture teaches that, as King, He orders and controls all things, human actions among them, in accordance with His own eternal purpose.  Scripture also teaches that, as Judge, He holds every man responsible for the choices he makes and the courses of action he pursues.  Thus, hearers of the gospel are responsible for their reaction; if they reject the good news, they are guilty of unbelief.

“Man without Christ is a guilty sinner, answerable to God for breaking His law.  That is why he needs the gospel.  When he hears the gospel, he is responsible for the decision that he makes about it.  It sets before hi a choice between life and death, the most momentous choice that any man can ever face…When we preach the promises and invitations of the gospel, and offer Christ to sinful men and women, it is part of our task to emphasize and re-emphasize that they are responsible to God for the way in which they react to the good news of His grace. (Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1978], 22, 25-26).”

            As we have mentioned as we have studied this passage that it is Biblical for Paul and Barnabas to talk to the Jewish people first and then if they reject the message of the gospel they turn to the Gentiles.  Many times in the book of Acts we see this happen, and many times it is the Jews who begin the persecution of those who are witnessing to them the truth of the gospel.  Paul ten quotes a well known Messianic passage from Isaiah 49:6 “He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."”  The problem is that the Jews did a really poor job in giving the light of the gospel to the Gentiles with of course the exceptions of Paul and those who traveled with Him and the rest of the Apostles.  There has always been a remnant of Jews being saved, and God is not done with the Jewish people as during the tribulation period described in Revelation 6-19 we see once again God’s focus will be on the Jewish people.  This was promised through the prophet Daniel as found in chapter nine and verses 24-27.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is the duty of every born-again believer to tell the good news of the gospel to people that the Lord brings onto our path.  We cannot save a single soul, but we can give out the message to those God wants us to so that the Holy Spirit can use that witness to call those who God has chosen from eternity past.  Don’t be discouraged, just keep tell people about the saving faith they can have through Jesus Christ.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord for a successful surgery for my 100 year old father-in-law as he broke his hip yesterday and is to have surgery to repair it today.  All prayers will be appreciated for Elmer.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Silas” (Acts 16:19-23).

Today’s Bible question:  “How many of Paul’s epistles were written during his missionary journeys?

Answer in our next SD.

3/5/2018 8:46 AM