Acts 13:26
Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
The words belong to Paul's address in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, spoken on the Sabbath after the reading of the law and the prophets when he was invited to give a word of exhortation. He spoke to Jews as men of Israel of the stock of Abraham together with Gentiles who fear God, directing the word of this salvation to them both.
The saving message was sent to two groups together, the descendants of Abraham and all others who fear God, including Gentiles, and was not limited to those descended from Abraham by birth. In that discourse this salvation is found in Jesus, the promised Saviour from David's line, whose coming John the Baptist announced. Paul traced the Lord's dealings with the Jews from deliverance from Egyptian bondage to the promise of a Saviour of the seed of David, and preached Jesus as that Saviour, the Messiah of prophecy.
The word was necessarily spoken first to the Jews. When the Jewish leaders, moved by envy and jealousy at the multitudes of Gentiles mingling with Jews to hear, contradicted with blasphemy and rage against a Messiah who would be a light to the Gentiles as well as the glory of Israel, Paul and Barnabas turned without hesitation to the Gentiles. Those Gentiles rejoiced that Christ received them as children of God and listened gladly, showing that God's offer of salvation was not reserved for the Jews alone but Gentiles were also invited to hear and receive it.
The sent saving Word leads those who seek God's counsel into service to help others and to remove doubts and difficulties in understanding the truth, with the Holy Spirit making their work effective. It requires earnest seeking of the Lord, humility of heart, and a higher moral standard upheld and maintained, with no encouragement for false theories or a low standard. This applies especially in printing establishments, sanitariums, and every line of institutional work, through cleansing, refining, enlightening, sanctifying and purifying by the Holy Spirit sitting as a refiner and purifier. The result is a decided change, conversion of the whole church, and a reformatory work extending throughout America that sends the message of warning forth as a lamp that burneth into the highways and byways.