301 "But now they make sport of me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. 2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands? All their vigor is gone. 3 Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground, 4 they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom. 5 They are driven out from society; people shout after them as after a thief. 6 In the gullies of wadis they must live, in holes in the ground, and in the rocks. 7 Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together. 8 A senseless, disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land. 9 "And now they mock me in song; I am a byword to them. 10 They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. 11 Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. 12 On my right hand the rabble rise up; they send me sprawling, and build roads for my ruin. 13 They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them. 14 As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.
15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. 16 "And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. 17 The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. 18 With violence he seizes my garment; he grasps me by the collar of my tunic. 19 He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me. 21 You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. 22 You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. 23 I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. 24 "Surely one does not turn against the needy, when in disaster they cry for help. 25 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? 26 But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came. 27 My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still; days of affliction come to meet me. 28 I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. 29 I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. 31 My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
311 "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin? 2 What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high? 3 Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity? 4 Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps? 5 "If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit- 6 let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!- 7 if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands; 8 then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.
9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door; 10 then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her. 11 For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense; 12 for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest. 13 "If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me; 14 what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? 15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, 17 or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it- 18 for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow - 19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, 20 whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate; 22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. 23 For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
24 "If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; 25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; 26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, 27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; 28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above. 29 "If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them- 30 I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse- 31 if those of my tent ever said, "O that we might be sated with his flesh!' - 32 the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler-
33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, 34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors- 35 O that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) O, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! 36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown; 37 I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him. 38 "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; 39 if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; 40 let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
26 "My brothers, you descendants of Abraham's family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. 27 Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. 28 Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. 29 When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead; 31 and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.' 34 As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, "I will give you the holy promises made to David.' 35 Therefore he has also said in another psalm, "You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.' 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; 37 but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; 39 by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you: 41 "Look, you scoffers! Be amazed and perish, for in your days I am doing a work, a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.' "
42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath. 43 When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul. 46 Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, "I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' " 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. 49 Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
(Read Acts 13:14-31)
When we come together to worship God, we must do it, not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God. The bare reading of the Scriptures in public assemblies is not enough; they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is helping people in doing that which is necessary to make the word profitable, to apply it to themselves. Every thing is touched upon in this sermon, which might best prevail with Jews to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah. And every view, however short or faint, of the Lord's dealings with his church, reminds us of his mercy and long-suffering, and of man's ingratitude and perverseness. Paul passes from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed; a Saviour to do that for them, which the judges of old could not do, to save them from their sins, their worst enemies. When the apostles preached Christ as the Saviour, they were so far from concealing his death, that they always preached Christ crucified. Our complete separation from sin, is represented by our being buried with Christ. But he rose again from the dead, and saw no corruption: this was the great truth to be preached.
(Read Acts 13:32-37)
The resurrection of Christ was the great proof of his being the Son of God. It was not possible he should be held by death, because he was the Son of God, and therefore had life in himself, which he could not lay down but with a design to take it again. The sure mercies of David are that everlasting life, of which the resurrection was a sure pledge; and the blessings of redemption in Christ are a certain earnest, even in this world. David was a great blessing to the age wherein he lived. We were not born for ourselves, but there are those living around us, to whom we must study to be serviceable. Yet here is the difference; Christ was to serve all generations. May we look to Him who is declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, that by faith in him we may walk with God, and serve our generation according to his will; and when death comes, may we fall asleep in him, with a joyful hope of a blessed resurrection.
(Read Acts 13:38-41)
Let all that hear the gospel of Christ, know these two things: 1. That through this Man, who died and rose again, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Your sins, though many and great, may be forgiven, and they may be so without any injury to God's honour. 2. It is by Christ only that those who believe in him, and none else, are justified from all things; from all the guilt and stain of sin, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. The great concern of convinced sinners is, to be justified, to be acquitted from all their guilt, and accepted as righteous in God's sight, for if any is left charged upon the sinner, he is undone. By Jesus Christ we obtain a complete justification; for by him a complete atonement was made for sin. We are justified, not only by him as our Judge but by him as the Lord our Righteousness. What the law could not do for us, in that it was weak, the gospel of Christ does. This is the most needful blessing, bringing in every other. The threatenings are warnings; what we are told will come upon impenitent sinners, is designed to awaken us to beware lest it come upon us. It ruins many, that they despise religion. Those that will not wonder and be saved, shall wonder and perish.
(Read Acts 13:42-52)
The Jews opposed the doctrine the apostles preached; and when they could find no objection, they blasphemed Christ and his gospel. Commonly those who begin with contradicting, end with blaspheming. But when adversaries of Christ's cause are daring, its advocates should be the bolder. And while many judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, others, who appear less likely, desire to hear more of the glad tidings of salvation. This is according to what was foretold in the Old Testament. What light, what power, what a treasure does this gospel bring with it! How excellent are its truths, its precepts, its promises! Those came to Christ whom the Father drew, and to whom the Spirit made the gospel call effectual, Romans 8:30. As many as were disposed to eternal life, as many as had concern about their eternal state, and aimed to make sure of eternal life, believed in Christ, in whom God has treasured up that life, and who is the only Way to it; and it was the grace of God that wrought it in them. It is good to see honourable women devout; the less they have to do in the world, the more they should do for their own souls, and the souls of others: but it is sad, when, under colour of devotion to God, they try to show hatred to Christ. And the more we relish the comforts and encouragements we meet with in the power of godliness, and the fuller our hearts are of them, the better prepared we are to face difficulties in the profession of godliness.
