Jeff Durbin - Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God

Acts 13:46-48 and the Appointment of the Gentiles to Eternal Life

If you want to open your Bibles to Acts, the book of Acts, New Testament, after the Gospels, if you're new to the Bible, Acts chapter 13. We're going to start in verse 46. Acts 13, 46. Someone's excited.

Hear now the word of the living and the true God. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Thus far is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray together as God's people. God, this is your word. It's a gift to us. Lord, in ourselves, we do not deserve this amazing gift, your revelation, you condescending to speak to us.

Lord, we've learned so much about you and your word, about your sovereignty, about your rule, about your reign and your control over all things. There are no accidents with you. You have a purpose. You have a will.

You declare the end from the beginning. God, you truly are the sovereign. And we come before you and your holy word today, and we ask that you would empower us, encourage us, renew our minds, remove from our hearts unbelief, especially in a time like we're living in now, in our current circumstances.

Remove from us worry and anxieties and fear about the future. Remove from us doubt regarding your promises about what you are going to do in the world to glorify your name. Bless today, and I pray that this message and your promises and your word would empower this church body to preach your gospel boldly to the world and to trust you as a sovereign God who wins history, all enemies under the feet of Jesus.

It's in your name we pray. Amen. Acts 38, powerful moments. Again, we've been in the series on the book of Proverbs, God's wisdom from above. We spent time over the last couple of weeks talking about the comprehensive sovereignty of God.

That is to say that the Bible gives us a portrait of God. It gives us revelation about God that is very different oftentimes than you might get in much of what is called evangelical today. It's not very popular today to see God as the true sovereign, as the one who rules and reigns over every event in human history.

And I've been making the argument that, of course, we as fallen and rebellious creatures would revolt against the idea that God is sovereign because that's the very idea that we've been revolting against from the beginning.

God is the sovereign. He rules. He reigns. He has ultimate authority. He's in control of all things. We, of course, rebel against that idea of God's sovereignty, but the Scriptures teach it plainly from Old and New Testament down to the smallest details, the minutia, the macro events, the micro events.

God is truly sovereign. There is no meaningless, no purposeless event in human history. Yes, even in a fallen world where there is violence and there is evil and there is sin, God is sovereign even over that.

And Scripture tells us, as God's people, that God causes what things? All things to work together for good for those who love God and those who are the called according to His purpose. God has a purpose.

All things work together for good. Look, that's the sovereign God presented to us in the Holy Scriptures. That's what God teaches. And so we've been in this book of divine wisdom. We looked through Proverbs.

We talked about what the book of Proverbs says about the sovereignty of God over all things down to the detail, and I love this part, about the casting of lots. We think there are some things that are just chance occurrences.

These are accidents, maybe even happy accidents, but they are just casting the lot. And Scripture teaches that even over those things, God is fully sovereign. He's the determiner of those things. Scripture teaches us the comprehensive sovereignty of God.

We then talked about how is this now relating to me, individually, as a person, or even the church. How does the sovereignty of God relate to me? And we spent time talking about the sovereignty of God over salvation.

That God is the one who predestines. God is the one who foreknows. God is the one who chooses a people in Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1. Before the foundation of the world, that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Before the foundation of the world, that Jesus is a lamb slain. Before the foundation of the world, this is part of the decree and the plan of God to bring about His glory and the redemption of unworthy people.

We talked about that beautiful passage in John chapter 6 and that passage in John chapter 10 that illustrate that point in this discourse that the Father gives a people to Jesus Christ. And He says that it's the will of the Father that Jesus loses none of them.

He loses none of all that the Father has given to Him. And He says, I will raise them up on the last day. There's my hope. That's your hope as a child of God. This is something that God does. God is the one who saves.

God is the one with the grace. God is the one with the mercy. God is the one with the purpose and the plan and the will and the power to save. And so we're still in Proverbs. We're on that theme of the comprehensive sovereignty of God.

And so we did God. And what is He sovereign over? We did the salvation of God's people. And today, I wanted to end that portion of studying on the sovereignty of God, talking about evangelism and the sovereignty of God.

Because this is critical, especially as I noted, especially right now. Especially right now. Now, there's no question or confusion about the fact that you go to a church that is teaching from the pulpit a hardcore, pipe-hitting post-millennialism.

No question. Yeah, that's right. Yes, praise the Lord for that. There's no question about that. But it's interesting, because oftentimes, many people who argue against post-millennialism, and all we say when we're post-millennial is that we believe those passages about what God is going to do in the world through the kingdom and the Messiah.

We believe those passages. Those are real passages. It's going to happen in history. Those are promises. We believe that. But oftentimes, people who argue against post-millennialism and against these promises will say, well, wait a minute.

You're saying that Christ is going to put all enemies under his feet and then finally, after that, his death, and that the world is going to just be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea?

You're saying you really believe that's going to happen? I'm saying, well, that's what the scriptures say, of course. I believe that. And they'll look in the world out there, and they'll say, OK, but what about Putin?

I said, pew, pew. OK, what about Putin? What about China? What about? Thank you. OK, sorry. What about Gog and Magog? That's a popular thing right now. Actually, I'm thinking, Pastor James, I need to do a message on Gog and Magog.

We're going to need that more and more in the days to come, people using a prophecy that's already been fulfilled as something that's supposed to happen in our day, in our future. But people today are watching the news.

And look, let me just go ahead and grant it at the outset. Things are tough right now. Things are bad right now. There are things shaping up right now in the Middle East that are not looking good. And we don't know the outcome.

Things could fall apart and get awful in a moment, or things could just sort of smooth out. I mean, we've lived, many of us have lived, especially this guy, lived through a lot. We've learned, we all have lived through a lot in terms of, some of you guys were raised in the 80s.

You were raised during the time of the Cold War. How many times did you think nukes were going to be launched in the 80s, right? We've been there before. We've always thought, like, the button's about to be pressed and it's all just going to go to hell in a moment.

We've been there, and admittedly, things are not looking good at the moment. And people have used that to argue against the specific sections of Scripture that talk about the victory of God and His Messiah within human history.

They say, well, wait a second. If you're saying that the world is going to look like this and be totally transformed, it looks like things are just getting worse right now. And I would say it's just a matter of perspective, because you're saying things are getting worse right now during a time where we have more professing Christians alive in the world today than in history.

The gospel has gone to more places now than in human history. And it's amazing to me when people will talk about how the world is getting terrible and people are going, it's amazing. The world is getting so terrible right now.

And everything's falling apart, and that's how the world's going to be, and it's terrible. And they're literally on a device preaching Christ live around the world. And people say, it's just getting so terrible and so awful while we're getting the Word of God into more places than we ever have before, and there are more professing Christians alive than we ever had before.

I'm not saying that there aren't broken things. There are broken things. But here's the point. That is a terrible way to argue against what the Bible says is the course of human history, that things look really bad right now, because here's my position.

God says He is going to do this. He says He's going to do it. God cannot lie, and that's my hope. That's my hope for evangelism. That's my hope for gospelling the world and telling the world about Jesus, is it doesn't matter what the current circumstances are and how much things look like they're falling apart.

It didn't look good the day of the cross either. And it was the cross of Jesus Christ was the very event, that horrendous, brutal event was the very event that God used to bring about the redemption of the world.

And so oftentimes what we see in front of us looks like it is time to despair. It looks like all hope is lost, but God is sovereign. And if we want to live with divine wisdom, we've got to get that part right.

God keeps His promises, and God is sovereign. So no matter what happens over the coming weeks or months, my answer is scripture says all enemies under the feet of Jesus, and then death will finally be defeated.

That's the promise of God, and God cannot lie. You with me? There's our hope. And so when we talk today briefly about the sovereignty of God in salvation, we started with this amazing section where now the gospel is going to the Gentiles.

That's big deal. That, by the way, is the fulfillment of the promises of the Messiah's kingdom. Understand that, that this promise of Messiah's kingdom was not simply that this Messiah was coming for the Jewish people, but it was that the knowledge of God will cover the earth like the waters cover the what?

And it's asked by my friend. I love how he asks it. It's the best way to ask the question. If that's the promise, the knowledge of God will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea, it's a good way to put it.

How wet is the Pacific Ocean? It's all wet. And so how much of the earth is getting covered with the knowledge of God? All of it, like the sea, it's all getting wet with the knowledge of God. That is the promise of God.

And the promise was that God was going to draw all the nations to God. People from every tribe, tongue, the languages, all the peoples were now going to be drawn up to God's mountain. And this Messiah would bring his salvation to the very ends of the earth.

All the families of God would return to worship Yahweh, Psalm 22. And now here you have, in the book of Acts, you have the gospel goes out. The gospel goes out. It's going first to the Jews. And now this moment, this beautiful moment where the gospel now is being brought to those Gentiles here in Acts 13.

And look what it says in terms of the sovereignty of God over this moment. It was promised by God. That's the point made by Luke here. It was promised by God. This is a fulfillment of prophecy. The Gentiles are coming now.

But notice what it says in verse 48. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed, as many as were appointed to eternal life, believed.

Do you see it? Fulfillment of God's promises. He keeps his promises. And that day, those who were appointed to eternal life believed. I made the argument last week on the very tail end of the message.

We talked about the sovereignty of God and our salvation. The Father draws, and Christ will raise them up. I made the point that every time we go out and do evangelism, it is 100 success rates. It is 100 success rates.

Even if you get beaten. Even if you get flogged. Even if you see outright rejection, yelling, spitting. People try to hit you with their car, as has happened to us doing abortion mill evangelism. People pulling guns on you.

People throwing food at you. 100 success. Because it is those who are appointed to eternal life that ultimately believe God is sovereign over all of this. He keeps his promises, and he has a people.

Jesus said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I must also bring. And here you see it in Acts 13. Exactly that. Not just Jews, but Gentiles also. Why? Because the sovereign God decreed it.

Because the sovereign God declared the end from the beginning. And here's what's going to take place. And so what do we see? We see that God, the true God, declares the end from the beginning. And so we need to consider one more point, that the principles and promises of the book of Proverbs teach what about the righteous and wicked.

We have direct promises from God. Here's what the shape of the world is going to be. Here is how human history is going to go. Here's how I'm going to win the world. But God also, in the book of Proverbs we've been studying, he has actual principles and promises regarding the righteous and the wicked.

What does it say about the wicked? Will they prosper? The wicked will not prosper. They are ultimately going to be crushed. Will the righteous prosper? That's the principle and promise of Scripture. The book of Proverbs is the righteous who flourish.

It's the righteous who prosper. Scripture teaches that it is actually the meek who shall inherit the what? The meek shall inherit the earth. Not the wicked, not the evil. They're cast off. They're uprooted.

The promise of God is about the shape of history. And the principles we've been learning about is that the righteous are the ones who ultimately inherit the world. The meek shall inherit the earth. The promise Paul says in Romans chapter 4 was that Abraham's descendants would inherit the world.

Where did we ever get this idea that it's the unbelievers or the wicked who inherit the world? The promise, the literal promise of God is that Abraham's descendants inherit the world. Do you believe in Christ?

Do you believe in Christ? Then you are, heirs according to the promise, you are children of Abraham. It's not outwardly that you're Jewish, but inwardly you're a child of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ.

And Scripture says that Abraham's descendants inherit the world. It is the wicked who are uprooted. And so God tells us the shape of human history. Here's what I'm going to do in human history. Here are the promises.

Here are the principles. But I wanted to make this point today as this very short message as we have Chili waiting in there for us and everyone's chomping at the bit. I want to make the point today that it is the promises of God that give us hope in our evangelism and our perspective of the future.

Just get that, and you'll get the main point of what I wanted to communicate to you as your brother and pastor today. It is the promises of God that are the anchor for our hope about the future. Now I know that walking in here, every one of us would have affirmed that statement.

Nobody would have denied that. It seems simple enough, right? The promises of God are the anchor. They're the foundation of our hope for the future. But I want to make a specific point about evangelism and ultimately the outcome of our evangelism to the world, that the world is won by Jesus.

He has victory over the world. And so no matter what we see in the days to come, no matter how bad things are, we know that God is sovereign and He's made promises. Now watch, very important. It doesn't mean, and this is key, this is key.

It doesn't mean that God doesn't have historical judgments in history. Scripture makes plain, clear threats from God of nations that would violate His law, nations that would disobey God. They will be uprooted.

The wicked will be uprooted. So it is possible. None of us are promised the nation that we're in is ultimately going to be the one that flourishes and grows. There are historical judgments. There's no promise that there isn't going to be judgment.

And let me just say this, plainly, our nation is already under judgment, clearly. With the things that we love, the things that we preach, the things that we accept, we are clearly already under the judgment of God.

Our nation has clearly been turned over. It was John Calvin, right, that said when God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers. That's where we're at. That's where we're at. So there's no question judgment is here.

And there's no promise that this nation will ultimately make it through. I pray for our nation, and I pray for repentance, and revival, and reformation. I pray for that. I know that God is sovereign enough to accomplish it.

He can bring light where there is darkness. He can raise the dead. Amen? Yes? But there's nothing coming from us that demands of God. You come down from your throne, and you do the bidding of our nation.

We may be judged as a nation, but even if we are, it doesn't mean that Christ is no longer on His throne, or that God isn't going to keep His promises. Amen? He will keep His promises. And what are some of those promises?

What are? There's no way to do this in a comprehensive way today, but some of those promises, and I wanted to have those anchor ones for us. This is the future of the world. Here is what hope we have for evangelism as we gospel the world.

We tell the world God's gospel, God's good news. Something you all know, Genesis 22, 17, Abraham's descendants would be as numerous as the what? Stars and the what? That's a lot. That's a lot. The stars and the sand, that's the descendants.

Where did we ever get the idea that God's people are the minority in human history? I'd say the stars and the sand of the seashore speaks of a very different story, brothers and sisters. We have a sovereign God who can absolutely accomplish it.

It did not look, remember this, it did not look the day of Jesus' ascension like he was really the one with all authority. It did not look like he was the king of kings and lord of lords. It did not mean he's raised from the dead, so that was a big deal.

But in terms of the gathering in front of Jesus, at the ascension of Jesus, that should have been a global event that everybody sees and like, my goodness, here is this amazing thing that was promised by God, the ascension of Messiah, seated on his throne to bring the redemption of his salvation, all of that to the ends of the earth.

But it's such a small crowd gathered before Jesus. And Jesus says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

It didn't look like he was the king of the world, right? Where's the huge audience? I mean, there's Roman guards that have more people with them than you've got. It's your feet, Jesus, and you're the king of the entire world.

It didn't look like it, but he was. And he is king of kings and Lord of lords. He's God in human flesh, crucified and raised and ascended and on his throne. Didn't matter if it looked like it, he has all authority in heaven and on earth.

And the promise is stars and sand, stars and sand. That's a lot. Again, that promise is made in Genesis 26, verse 4. And then Genesis 49, 10, there's this amazing promise. Some translations use the word Shiloh.

Shiloh is coming. And it says this, to him shall be the obedience of the nations. To him, the Messiah, shall be the obedience of the nations. Now, quick question, did the apostles believe that, that the obedience of the nations were going to be Christ's?

Just read the book of Romans. Just read it. In Romans chapter 1 and 16, the book ends of that book, Paul gives us this very promise and says that the purpose of all of it is to bring about the obedience of faith or the obedience that comes from faith among all the nations for the sake of his name.

That was the promise, Genesis 49, 10. The nations are coming to God. They will obey Jesus. And by the way, that's what Jesus said to go get. There's the Great Commission. There's what Jesus said to go get, right?

All authority is mine, heaven, earth. Go make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them to obey me. That's where history is going. Stars and sand and obedience of nations. Then, of course, you have the promise in Psalm 2, where the father says to the son, ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the very ends of the earth for your possession.

Brothers and sisters, make no mistake about it. That's total. The ends of the earth for your possession. And of course, this isn't mine. Dr. Greg Bonson used to say this often. We talked about that text, and it is powerful.

The father says to the son, ask of me, I'll give you the nations for your inheritance, the very ends of the earth for your possession. Dr. Bonson used to say, do you think that Jesus forgot to ask? No, his departing words to us in the ascension were, go get them, because they belong to me.

And so the promise is that Christ gets the ends of the earth. In Psalm 22, the vivid portrayal that we have of the passion of the Christ, of the crucifixion of Jesus, people like dogs surrounding him, pierced in his hands and his feet, his heart like wax melted within him, casting lots for his clothing.

That passion, Psalm, turns from death, being laid in the very dust of death, and it turns from there to, and all the families of the earth will return to worship Yahweh. We have the passion of Christ leading to all the families of the earth returning to worship Yahweh.

Where did we ever get the idea that our evangelistic efforts are ultimately going to fail? Where did we ever get the idea that the righteous aren't going to flourish in the world? Where did we ever get that idea?

We didn't get that from scripture. We get that from our circumstances. We get that from eisegesis. We get that from fear over our current circumstances and the bad news that's given to us. God has good news, brothers and sisters.

It's the gospel of a kingdom. Never forget that. That's what Jesus was preaching. That's what Jesus was preaching, and we've forgotten it. We don't know what it means today. Jesus was preaching, he says, when he comes out of the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4, the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom of the Messiah.

It's good news for the world. It's salvation, redemption, the families of the earth returning to worship Yahweh. It is justice established in the earth, righteousness established in the earth. There's my hope and your hope to lay your lives down for the sake of the gospel, because God has made promises and he is sovereign enough to guarantee them.

They will come to fruition. By the way, if you had any question about God's power and salvation and his ability to change the entire world, look down at your feet. You're one of them. You were dead. God made you alive.

You were an enemy of God. He saved you. He opened your eyes. He opened your ears. He gave you legs so that you can walk again. He healed your soul. That's who he is. So if you have any question about God's abilities to save even the worst among us, look at your belly.

Not commenting on your size. I'm saying, OK. Another one, Psalm 72. Again, there's no way to do this comprehensively today, but these are foundational promises of the sovereignty of God over evangelism and the gospeling of the world.

In Psalm 110 .1, you know we say it's God's favorite Bible verse because it's the most often quoted or alluded to in the New Testament references from the Old Testament. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

And the text says rule in the midst of your enemies. He's ruling now in the midst of his enemies. And Paul takes that verse, 1 Corinthians 15. There's no way out of it. No way out of it. No way out of it without gymnastics and a lot of dance.

He says that Christ is reigning now. That was a long time ago. He's reigning now. He's on the messianic throne. And he must reign until all enemies are made a footstool for his feet. And the last enemy is death.

So it's all enemies under the feet of Messiah and then finally death. That's where history is going. And there's your confidence and my confidence to lay our lives down. We have the guaranteed assurance and the guaranteed hope, the promises of God, and the very sovereignty and power of God to accomplish it.

We have the promises of Isaiah 2, the promises of Isaiah 9. Isaiah 2, the nations are going to stream up to God's mountain. They're going to be drawn up to God's mountain. You see some of that in Acts chapter 13.

You see it in your life right now. I love this church. I do. I love Apology at Church. Not just because what God has done to save all of us, but I love the diversity among us, this church body, with a love for Jesus, an obedience, a desire to obey Jesus.

And all of us, most of us, descendants from pagans, Gentiles, loving Jesus, most of us, all the different colors present in this room, all the different backgrounds in this room. If you ever had any doubt about God's ability to fulfill these promises, look around the room.

Don't just look at your bellies. Look at this room. All of us, descendants, again, most of us, descended from pagans, worshiping and loving the Lord God of Israel because of Jesus. Isaiah 2, the nations streaming up to God's mountain and the law going forth from the people of God, from Zion, God's instruction, God's Torah, loving God's law, giving others God's law, God's truth, the fulfillment.

Isaiah 9, 6 through 7, that this one who is coming, the one who is God with us, the son, the child, that he has this everlasting kingdom. He establishes this, and it says this. It says, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

It's the zeal of the Lord of hosts that accomplishes this. It's God who's doing this. God has this kingdom. God's going to increase it. It will have no end. God's doing that. That's the promise of Messiah.

The promise of Messiah. I wanted to read this one to you because it is, for me, an anchor in so much of the work that we do as a church. Isaiah 42, let's read that together. This one I want to have you put before your eyes, know where it's at because this is a powerful, powerful section of scripture.

It's a promise of Messiah in the book of Isaiah long before Jesus comes in his earthly ministry. And this is one of my favorite prophecies of Isaiah. Isaiah 42, 1, behold, my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights.

I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. Let's do it again. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will bring forth justice to the nations. Where did we ever get the idea that the church fails in history?

Where did we ever get the idea that we're the minority in history? Where did we ever get that idea? The problem is that we have systems that collide with the text, and we have to force upon the text. And it forces us to ignore what the text plainly promises us about the mission and ministry of the Messiah.

It says he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A Bruce Reed he will not break. In a faintly burning wick he will not quench.

He will. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged. We do. I do. We do. We grow faint. We get discouraged. Admit it, when you're watching the news this week, if you have been watching the news, you might have had some moments of, oh, that's not good.

This is getting tense. We get discouraged. We grow faint. We get weak. And it says this, he will not, he will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law.

Sound familiar? Sounds a lot like the Great Commission. Sounds like what Christ promised us he was going to accomplish. Then you have promises like Daniel 7, 13 through 14. This one, like the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, he comes up to the ancient of days and is presented before him, and to him is given a what?

A kingdom. He's given a kingdom that all the nations, all the languages, they're going to come and serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away. And his kingdom is one which shall never be destroyed.

There's your hope in evangelism. There's your hope and my hope in gospelling the world and sharing the good news with the world is that this will never be destroyed, ever. Christ is truly reigning. He's the all-powerful king.

He's the king that all kings will ultimately bow the knee to, every knee will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's where history is going. Jesus will accomplish this.

And of course, that promise that the knowledge of God will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea. I wanted to give you this. God is sovereign. He rules and reigns. And he's made promises about the future of the world.

It's where it's going. That should motivate you and I, no matter the circumstances, to preach the gospel because God is sovereign and he is powerful enough to accomplish his purposes even in the hardest people that you know.

Even in the hardest people you know. I can't tell you how many times in my own life, and I'm not the standard here, at all, I can't tell you how many times in my own life and going out and doing some very hard evangelism and some very tough ministry, looking at a crowd of people, preaching at people, teaching people, and sharing the gospel.

The times where you see someone that you think, this person's really open to the gospel and they never actually turn to Christ. And the person who looked the hardest and was the most rough and the person who was like rabid against the gospel is the one that God just, bing, eyes open and they turn to Christ.

The hardest people. I've seen God take the people who look the most dead among us, the most powerless among us, or the people who are most hostile to the Christian faith. I've told you my story before of going out to do evangelism at the Mormon temple.