Acts 13:48 and Biblical Evangelism

You messed up that last ten. There's this... You know that it's my favorite line was missing. Some of you who are old, er, like me, know that in the second line it says, Here I raise my Ebenezer. And I love to...

My daughter just rolls her eyes every time I remind her of what that means. But an Ebenezer, it's a Hebrew phrase. It means a rock of remembrance. A stone of remembrance. And it was what the Jewish people would set up.

You remember in the Old Testament of times they would build a small monument, in essence, when God did something in their lives. Whenever they would see that, then they would remember that. And they went and took it out.

And I want my Ebenezer back. I think you're with me on that one. I did want to mention that you already, here in Great Falls, have a distinction that you might not know about. In a number of years, the Lord has taken me to a number of different places.

I have had the opportunity in the past number of years to be visiting the United Kingdom fairly regularly. And so I've flown in and out of Heathrow, and Gatwick, and I've been up in Glasgow, Scotland, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

And just a few weeks ago, I flew one of those huge A380s, the largest passenger jet in the world. You can fit like 800 people in this beast, all the way down to Sydney. And I flew a 747 out of Brisbane, and JFK, and Atlanta, and LAX, all over the place.

Also, it took me the longest time to get out of the parking lot. Been in. Last night, 11 o 'clock on a Thursday night. I don't know what that fellow was doing up there at the ticket booth. I think he was showing pictures of his grandchildren to every person going through.

But I honestly have gotten out of Boston Logan Airport. If you've ever been to Boston Logan Airport, it is, without a doubt, the worst airport in the world. Even in Boston Logan, I get out faster than that.

So it's something you can tell your grandkids and everything else, that there's something that you can take home and enjoy. It is good to be with you. I'm only disappointed about one thing. I brought my leather jacket and everything, hoping for some cold weather.

What was that, wait five minutes? Well, okay, yeah. But tomorrow, it's even going to be warmer than it was today. And I'm just very disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing my breath. Those of us in Phoenix don't get to see very often.

It was really, really exciting. But we'll have to try again some other time. If you think it's going to be bad here tomorrow, it's going to be 100 in Phoenix tomorrow, which will not be the latest 100 we've had.

On October 23rd, I think it was 2003, as I recall, it was 103 degrees for our high on October 23rd. So that's the latest it has been, over 100 degrees. And if you're wondering, yes, I was there when we reached our all-time high on June 26th, 1990, of 122 degrees in the shade.

They had to shut down Sky Harbor Airport because Boeing had never bothered to program into their aircraft how to set flaps above 120 degrees. So they had to shut down the airport for a while that day.

So it was lots of fun. And coldest I've seen there? About 27. That's where you're all going, oh, great, wonderful. That's why most of your folks, the younger folks, go down where we are, not vice versa.

So I'm not seeing a huge influx of folks heading for Montana. But it would be nice. It's a beautiful, beautiful place. The pastor does seem somewhat amazed that I would attempt your invitation to come.

Actually, I end up speaking to smaller groups regularly. The reason is I'm not a politically correct person. And I've pretty much managed to offend every religious group on the planet, including a lot of folks who would actually normally like me.

And so I actually enjoy having the opportunity of getting to interact with people. And for some reason, because of the things that I believe and emphasize, there are a lot of doors that just aren't open to me anyways.

So I really appreciate the fact that he was extremely patient. I don't know how long ago it was you originally contacted me, but it was a long process of, well, maybe we can work it together with this, or maybe we can work it together with that.

And eventually, none of those things happened either. So we just had to sort of make it happen. So I'm very, very glad to be with you. If you turn your Bibles, please, to Acts chapter 13, there is in the handout somewhat of a schedule with topics.

That is sort of a whole lot of substance to it. So if you see a particular subject you're all excited about, don't get too excited about that. Because I want to be free to spend the time where we need to spend the time.

And tomorrow I'll be doing more presentations using the digital projector, looking at some of the apologetic issues then. But this evening we want to sort of lay a foundation. I thought it would be best just to stay in the word to do that.

And since the topic of our time together has to do with Acts 13 -48, I want to start with that and then move into the subject of how we defend this faith and present this faith, especially within the context of a world that is very much opposed to hearing the Christian faith.

We live in a day where our society has become more and more secular, where there is in fact a form of secularism that has become the dogma and doctrine of our society. And I don't care where you are in the United States, as long as you have access to the medium, you will be inundated with the images and the thought patterns of this world.

The society has changed much during my lifetime, and it's changing even faster as we speak, so fast that some people have identified almost as an earthquake in how our society and our nation as a whole is changing.

And especially our young people are surrounded by a secular way of thought that questions the existence of absolute truth, and especially causes them to think in ways that are directly opposite to the ways of the Scriptures.

That is, they are taught in essence to question the truth, they are taught to look at anyone who believes they know the truth with suspicion, and in essence they are being taught to look at all positions, especially in the area of religion, as having equality with one another.

That is, that all religious perspectives should be given equal respect. There's a vast difference between being tolerant. I mean, I don't think that we should go running out the doors here and rush the Mormon ward next door, you know.

You should be good neighbors. In fact, if you see some of the missionaries out tonight, invite them over tomorrow, we will be talking about Mormonism. Be happy to show them that we can accurately represent their beliefs, and then give a response to their beliefs as well.

That's showing proper tolerance. But it's not the same thing as saying, well, that means there is an equal truth value in the two messages, one being preached here, one being preached there, because the two beliefs are completely different.

They can't both be true. And they can't both be respected in the same way as truth statements. And yet, in our society today, that's what we're being told we need to do. And so, those of us of the older generations, we sense this, we see this.

And unless we have been very diligently speaking to our young people about the need to specifically cultivate a Christian worldview, about the need to expose yourself regularly to the word of God, so that that word can be constantly counteracting the influence of the world, well, we wonder why it is that, I'm not sure how they figure these things out, but 78 -80 of kids raised in quote-unquote evangelical homes today by age 25 are no longer part of that faith community.

Now, why is that? Well, there might be a lot of reasons for that, but I think one of the main reasons is those of us of the older generations just haven't quite come to grips yet with how quickly things are changing and the constant incessant attack there is upon the Christian worldview from our society.

So, that's what we want to be discussing this weekend. But first and foremost, we want to look to the word of God and lay a foundation for some of these things. This is not the first society that has had lots of troubles.

In fact, as we look at the book of Acts, as we look at the apostle Paul, and Barnabas as they are going on their missionary journeys, they are ministering in a world where there is a tremendous amount of paganism, there is a tremendous amount of idolatry, there is a disrespect for life, life is considered to be cheap, people die at a much earlier age at this time, there are periods of time during church history where you had to have ten children just to hope that one would make it through to adulthood.

And so, things have been a lot darker than they are in our day. Each generation tends to think that this is the worst it's ever been. Well, that's not really the case. But certainly, as Paul and Barnabas went out to preach the gospel, they encountered a tremendous amount of opposition.

In these earlier chapters of Acts, that opposition primarily comes from the Jewish people themselves. As you may recall, it was the apostolic example, when you went into a city here in Acts chapter 13, they go into Pisidian Antioch, to first go to the people who possess the word of God.

And so, they go into the synagogues. And they go to the people who have already read the prophets, before they then go to the Gentiles who may have never read the prophets, and so they would have to provide much more of a context and things like that.

Now, you might say that took some temerity and some bravery, to walk into the Jewish synagogue, knowing what Paul already knew. He knew what eventually was going to take place, once the Jews really began to understand what the gospel message was, and yet he still went into that particular location.

I can't help but think of the fact that, again, since I looked out the window and saw the Mormon War Chapel next door, we used to, back when I was once... I forgot to show the pastor and his wife this picture on my phone, over dinner tonight, after mine would do that.

I have the picture of the night that my wife said that she would marry me, December 5th, 1982. And the person in that picture is a skinny guy with lots of hair. And that's the first response of everybody when I show it to them, is, okay, that's your wife, but who's the other guy?

That's me. No. I signed a contract, probably in my sleep, that I do all the aging and my wife does none of it. But anyway, back around that time, as I was initially reaching out to Mormon people, we would go to the Mormon War Chapels during the Fasting and Testimony Sunday, which is the first Sunday of the month.

And I remember very clearly going to the Sixth Ward of the Mormon Church in Glendale, Arizona. And when they said, does anyone want to give a testimony? They didn't say, does any Mormon want to give a testimony?

They said, does anyone? So I had prepared a number of verses, and I got up, and I started giving my testimony of salvation by grace through faith. About halfway through, I folded up a bulletin. Remember those blue mimeograph machines?

I'm really dating myself here, aren't I? The other people are going, a mimeo, what? Anyways, it flies over my shoulder and lands on the pulpit, and it says, Brother White, our time is up. Well, I knew that their time wasn't anywhere near up, but I was getting the cane around the middle of it, and ended up spending quite some time with the Mormon bishop afterwards discussing the universal sinfulness of man.

So I have a little feeling of what, I knew what the eventual reaction and result of my giving my testimony in a Mormon war chapel was going to be. And Paul, I'm sure, knew that eventually there was going to be a reaction to the proclamation of the gospel.

Paul’s Sermon in Acts 13 and the Turn to the Gentiles

So if you'll look at Acts chapter 13, we'll just look at a few, just sort of do a little outline and then read a section, you'll notice that beginning in verse 16, Paul begins his presentation. He talks about what happened with Jesus.

Beginning about verse 33, he begins giving the Old Testament foundations, the Old Testament text about the coming Messiah, ties them all together, and then calls the people to faith in Christ. Then beginning in verse 42, as Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.

Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.

So these synagogues were places where you not only had the Jews gathering, but you also had these God-fearers, called God-fearing proselytes here. These were people who were attracted to the monotheism of the Jewish faith.

They were repelled by the paganism of the day, and they found this synagogue to be a place where they found consistent morality and ethics in the teaching of the Old Testament scriptures, and they find the message of Paul and Barnabas to be very attractive.

But then notice, the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the Word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming.

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, It was necessary the Word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

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. When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

The Word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region, but the Jews inside of the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district, but they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium, and the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

And so here we have a situation where the whole city comes together and when the Jews see this, well, they had never seen these kind of crowds before, and so they are filled with jealousy. It wasn't so much that they had analyzed the message of Paul and Barnabas and gone, this doesn't really fit the Old Testament paradigms, this doesn't fit the theology that we've been taught, etc., etc.

No, they see the crowds and they are filled with jealousy, and we are immediately reminded of the attitude of the Pharisees that we see in the Gospels, and the fact that it wasn't so much what Jesus was teaching as the fact that Jesus was teaching without their approval that caused so much of their animosity toward the Lord Jesus.

And so this same attitude, an attitude that continues to exist to this day, I moderated a debate between a Christian and a Jewish rabbi a number of years ago at Arizona State University, and I'll never forget writing down about 10 -15 minutes into the opening statement by the Jewish rabbi, the Pharisees live.

Nothing had changed in 2 ,000 years. It was like one of the Pharisees from Matthew had just come to life and was standing before me. It was absolutely incredible. So while there are still Jewish Pharisees today, I do like to make a word of warning to all of us who possess the Word of God that there are no harsher words in the New Testament for any group than for the Pharisees.

Those who possess the Word of God, and yet who do not live in light of that Word, and who would abuse that Word and be complacent with that Word. I think one of the greatest dangers for those of us who possess the Word of God in its fullness, maybe who have been raised in the Church, I'm the son of a preacher, the son of a preacher, the son of a preacher, Trace, through my father all the way back to preachers in Scotland.

And so a great heritage there, but it's very easy to become complacent in those situations. And there is no attitude that is more reprehensible in God's sight, it seems, from what we read in the Scriptures than that attitude of the Pharisees.

Remember, it was to them that he was speaking when he spoke about the unpardonable sin, which I think was calling white, black, and black, white, the danger of religious hypocrisy. And so it is something that we should be constantly praying, Lord, protect us from the attitude of the Pharisees, for he does not have anywhere near the prospect.

And so these who are, in fact, religious hypocrites are contradicting the things spoken by Paul, not because they truly disagreed, but because they were filled with jealousy. Very often the motivations of those who oppose the Christian faith have nothing to do with truth, or a desire for truth, or a love for truth, or anything else.

Dealing with people who, when they hear your message, there's something else in their life, sin in their life, things in their history, whatever it might be, they don't want to hear about a God who has a right over their lives to tell them what is right and what is wrong.

And the result can be rejection of the gospel message and contradiction of the gospel message. But that contradiction isn't because of some in-depth study, it's not because of some real commitment to truth, it has other reasons for existence.

And so jealousy is what is motivating this contradiction of the things spoken by Paul. They were blaspheming. They were blaspheming. They were speaking against the gospel and against the person of Christ.

And so Paul and Barnabas recognize that they're not going to have the same opportunity they had a week earlier to speak the word of the Lord in this context. And they say, well, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first.

Notice he identified that as the word of God. The message of God had gone to these individuals. But since you repudiated and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Unworthy of eternal life. Now those are words that embarrass many today in what's called the broader Christian community.

Ever since World War II and the Holocaust, there has been, especially in Europe, and now in the United States as well today, a desire to expunge anything from the New Testament that could be considered quote-unquote anti-Jewish.

As if people living back then are somehow exactly the same as people living today. But there are all these things that Paul said and did that cause people tremendous embarrassment. And yet when we look at something like this we should not be so narrow-minded as to say, ah, it's just about Jewish people.

Anyone who repudiates the proclamation of the word of God is judging themselves unworthy of eternal life. Because there is only one source of eternal life. And that's one of the major problems with the thinking of our fellow citizens today.

We have embraced the idea that eternal life is something God owes us. He owes us the best that He has. And so there must be many ways of obtaining eternal life. It's very clear from the Apostles' teaching right here that the ever-so-popular pluralism of our day, the idea that there are many roads that lead to eternal life, many roads that lead to heaven.

We don't want to be exclusivists. There's good in every religion. There's truth in every religion. God's going to just love us all at the end. Oh, we hear that all the time. The problem is, to believe that is to call Jesus.

To believe that is to make the cross of Christ. That is what our society wants us to do. They want us to be embarrassed about the cross. Because what does the cross say? The cross says God is the one who has moved decisively in one way to provide a right relationship with Himself.

And if there is any other way other than that, then that becomes immoral. Is that not what Paul said in Galatians 2? If there is any other way of righteousness, if there is any other source of righteousness, how does Paul put it?

Christ died needlessly, in vain, to no purpose. That's what our society wants us to adopt as an acceptable form of Christianity. Because a Christianity was a cross that has no power, has no message, and has no meaning.

That's the only cross they're willing to put up with. You see, when Paul spoke to these individuals, he said, you've judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life. He didn't say, oh, you're going to have to find eternal life in some other way.

He said, no, you're not going to have eternal life. You have repudiated the word of God that has come to you. You judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Now, to us, that's just like, yeah, okay, we've known that all along.

In hindsight, we see how this is all through the Gospels and Jesus was preparing the disciples for this. But you really need to understand how absolutely revolutionary it was. The attitude of the Jews at the time of the coming of the Messiah was that we are God's people, and then you've got everybody else.

There's two kinds of people in the world. The Jews and everybody else. And we are the recipients of the promises. God's Messiah is for us. He's going to deliver Israel. This idea of the Messiah being a blessing to all the people.

Yeah, it was there in Genesis 12. Yeah, it's there in Isaiah. It's there in Jeremiah. But especially when you're a persecuted people, it's easy to lose sight of those broad things. And the expectation was very much focused upon the land of Israel and the people of Israel.

So much so that even after the cross, at the ascension, Lord, now? Is it time now to restore the land to Israel and establish a kingdom? And they just didn't see until the Spirit comes and opens their understanding of the Scriptures.

And so we are turning to the Gentiles. That was a radical statement. That was a slap in the face to the Pharisaical attitude. What do you mean you're turning to Gentiles? You're going to take our sacred Scriptures?

You're going to take the promises of the prophets? And you're going to turn to Gentiles? How can this be? Well, they quoted the text of Scripture to demonstrate how this could be. Verse 47, from again Isaiah chapters 42 and 46.

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. All the peoples. And then notice verse 48. When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.

And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Now, I do not believe that it was Luke's intention. In the pending of these, to lay out of salvation or election. Concerning the sovereignty.

What Acts 13 .48 does do is sort of twofold. First of all, it makes it very plain to me that to Luke, this was just a given. This wasn't some grand controversial thing. He doesn't take the next chapter to elucidate his statements.

He simply says, as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Luke writes in a very specific form of the Greek language. If any of you have ever studied the Greek language, I'm one of those freaks of nature called a Greek professor.

And I don't get to teach it nearly as often anymore as I used to. When Golden Gate first came into the Phoenix area, I was their first Greek teacher. And taught Greek into this last decade. But then as the campus grew, they hired more and more staff.

And now I primarily do apologetics things. Rather than doing the Greek teaching. But it is a privilege of mine to have taught many young men Greek. Who have gone on to do their doctorates. Who are pastoring today and things like that.

I always try to teach young men to love the language. Not hate the language. Which unfortunately in seminary is what you frequently end up doing. Because you don't have much time to teach it. And if you have studied the language, you know that the three hardest books to translate in the New Testament.

Are Luke, Acts, and Hebrews. If you were to rate the Greek on a scale of 1 to 10 for difficulty. The first book you always read in first year Greek is 1 John. Baby Greek. It's about a level 2. Very simple.

Very easy to read. Luke, Acts, and Hebrews is 8, 9, and 10 on the difficulty scale. And so Luke is a very specific writer. When he describes for example political figures. All through the book of Acts.

For a long time people wondered why did he use so many different words. To describe these political leaders. But as archeological knowledge has increased over the past hundred years especially. We've discovered that just as you can go from state to state.

And you'll use different words. You know like down in Louisiana they have parishes instead of counties. Down in Phoenix we've got ourselves a sheriff. You got sheriffs up here? You got sheriffs here too?

Back east they have no idea what the role of a sheriff is. And if a sheriff showed up in San Francisco he'd be arrested. So there's all sorts of different ways that people refer to these people. And lo and behold the reason Luke was using all those different words.

Is because that's how they referred to people in those particular places. He was incredibly accurate in his use of the specific words. That were used by the people in those areas themselves. So Luke is very specific.

And here in this text he utilizes the language in such a way. As to communicate with clarity what he's saying. And what he's saying is that there were as many as had before this point. Been appointed to eternal life.

As a result of that appointment to eternal life they believed. He doesn't then stop and say now let me explain what that is. He doesn't have to expand upon it. He just makes the statement. And so the first thing it tells me is that Luke, the apostles.

This wasn't a controversy for them. This wasn't something they wrote extra books about. And had debates amongst themselves over. They recognized, Paul recognized. And he certainly expanded upon it in other texts.

We'll look at them on the Lord's day. They recognized that when they met with a group of people. Here in the city of Antioch or wherever else it might be. On Mars Hill or wherever else Paul proclaimed the gospel.

That the gospel had a result. But it wasn't always the same result. There would be those. You could have two men. Hear the message. Very similar backgrounds. Very similar dispositions. One accepts. One rejects.

What's the difference between the two? Well in synergistic systems. Systems where salvation is worked out by cooperation between God and man. The idea is well one person was more sensitive. More spiritually sensitive.

More insightful. In some way shape or form better. But that's not the apostolic understanding at all. Who makes men to differ? It is. Eternity has been ushered in. The judgment has taken place. And those many are absorbed in the worship of their God.

That any one of us could be able to stand there and say. I'm awful glad I was a little better than those folks back there. Those who are undergoing punishment. I was just a little bit better. I don't think that that's going to be the case at all.

One five letter word that's going to make the difference between those two groups. And it's God's grace. And so as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. It's not a treatise on election. But it is a recognition.

That this was a given. Something was believed. But secondly I said there were two things. The second thing this text helps us to do is to identify people who don't want to have a say in all things. Because I cannot tell you the imaginative way people have come up with to get around this text.

Some of you have heard a number of years. We have spoken at many of the same conferences. Because as you know Dave does some apologetics things. But back around the year 2000 or so. I think it was in May of 2000.

I got a newsletter from Dave Hunt's ministry. And in it was this lengthy attack upon reform theology. Salvation. So we ended up doing a radio program. And that then led to a book that he wrote called What Love Is This?

And in that book he tried to get around Acts 13 -48. In fact he even suggested that the best rendering of the Greek. It's always scary when people start talking about the best rendering of the Greek. When they don't actually read the language.

That's always a dangerous thing. You need to be careful about that. It's been said many times a little Greek is a dangerous thing. And they were not talking about the guy down at the sandwich shop. They were talking about what happens when you start using your concordance.

The rendering of this text that Mr. Hunt suggested. Just happens to be the same rendering found in the New World Translation. Does anybody know what the New World Translation is? Yes, a couple of people do.

That is the one produced by Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a perversion of the Bible. It was amazing the argumentation he presented. So I demonstrated in some articles on the internet. And then as we did a book together.

In fact I think it's mentioned in the handout. The book that Mr. Hunt and I did together called Debating Calvinism. That his arguments on this text were in fact fallacious. Now normally in a situation like that.

You would think that someone would say well okay. I stand corrected. And come up with another understanding of the text. But instead after that book came out. Mr. Hunt came out with a new edition of What Month is This?

A revised and expanded edition. And without putting any footnotes in saying well I've changed all of this. He changed all of his discussion of Acts 13 -48. And he added a new twist. He informed us that the first 15 chapters of Acts were originally written.

And that those who had seen this Hebrew. Told us that Acts 13 -48 meant this of course. He couldn't tell us where these Hebrew. He couldn't tell us who these Hebrew scholars who had read them were either.

So when all else fails. Come up with a new original language for the text. That is just one of the many. That men have come up with to try to get around this. Normally what they do is the word Tasso see.

And it's in the middle. And so it really means that they appointed themselves. They're forgetting a little. They don't seem to understand that this is called a paraphrastic instruction. And no that really.

But see what it does is it illustrates. The lengths that people will go to try to maintain the sovereignty of man. In salvation. The sovereignty of man. In salvation. I didn't say the sovereignty of God.

Sometimes we hear that term sovereignty. And it's just automatically in our minds. No. The sovereignty of man. Because there are many, many, many people. Who are willing to say there could be no salvation.

Apart from God. And if it were not for God's grace. No one could ever be saved. 2 Nephi 25. It's by grace you're saved after all. And it has an ending source of frustration. That's the discussion of the Roman thing of one.

He says well look. All you have to do. Is you look at the counsel of Trent. And the counsel of Trent specifically says. If you say you can be saved without the grace of God. You are anathema. Isn't that wonderful?

The counsel of Trent anathematizes anybody. Who says you can be saved without the grace of God. Well he's right. He's right. It's exactly what it says. Of course that demonstrates an abysmal ignorance.

Of what the reformation was about. Because reformers never said Rome. Rome says you can be saved apart from grace. Never said that. That wasn't the argument. That wasn't the debate. Reformation was never ever about the necessity of grace.

It was always about the sufficiency. It remains the issue to this day. In so many different. Sing amazing grace all you want. If the grace you're singing about. Is this insufficient to save? If it's not powerful enough to save.

Without additions. And the amazing grace of the reformation. That saved. The message of the reformation was. All that stuff. The treadmill. The constant going to the priest. And condolences. All the sacraments you engage in.

To try to gain grace. It's all for naught. God's grace saves. It cannot even admit of a mixture or addition. That leads to salvation. There's no place for man. There's no place for man's will. In the sense of puffing himself up.

And gaining just a little bit of the glory. And so people say. Oh 99 of the glory goes to God. But they always try to hold back. That one little bit. The one deciding factor. God tries, tries, tries, tries.

But man just. Between a biblical understanding. Of the centrality of God's grace. And a sub-biblical. And so. When people engage in all of this. To try to get around this text. This isn't the only one they do it to.

Every clear text. John chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 1. Romans 8 and 9. They've always got a way to try to get around. It becomes indicative. Of when we run into someone's tradition. When all of a sudden the way they interpret the Bible changes.

Anyplace else. They'll follow the right rules of interpretation. They'll let the language speak for itself. They'll let the context speak for itself. When it's talking about the resurrection. Or the nature of the church.

Well that's fine. But then you run into one error. Where the word of God steps upon the toes. And so here in Acts 13 .48. We are given an apostolic example. What made. On that Sabbath day morning. They knew it was going to be left for dead.

Put in prison. Yet they keep going. I suggest to you that that phrase. Is the reason. Believe it's not us. We are instruments in God's hands. Paul will say later on. For many many years. 18 years. Salt Lake City.

The first weekend in April. The television stations you may have heard of. The general conference. And at first. When we first started doing that in the 1980's. They were still meeting in the Mormon tabernacle.

You can put about 10 ,000 people. And so Temple Square there in Salt Lake. If you've ever been there. Back then only had three entrances. North, south and west. And so with a small number of people. Literally with only as few as six people.

You could cover all of the entrances. To the general conference. We would go up there. And we would be dressed nicely. We had tracks. That I attempted to make as well researched. As I possibly could. And we proclaimed the gospel to the Mormon people.

Toward the end of that time. They opened up their new meeting house. Across the street on North Temple. That seats like 30 ,000. And that totally changed the dynamics. And how to track it and things like that.