Paul’s First Sermon

Introduction:

If you have your Bible let me invite you to open with me to the book of Acts chapter 13.

We will begin reading in verse 13 and we will read all the way to verse 25.

In verses 1-3, the church in Antioch laid hands upon Paul and Barnabas and by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, they sent Paul and Barnabas on the first recorded missionary journey.

They first traveled to the island of Cyprus, likely where Barnabas was from.

They traveled to the capital city Paphos, where they encountered the first recorded opposition to their message, as well as, a Roman proconsul who came to believe the teaching about Jesus.

In verse 13, now, we have more movement. Paul and his companions travel more than 100 miles by boat set sail from Paphos, to Pamphylia, and then by foot to a city called Antioch in Pisidia….

And its at this point the narrative slows down drastically.

Its in this chapter where we find the first recorded speech or sermon that Paul delivered in a synagogue in Pisidia.

We can assume that Luke includes this very full and very detailed speech, not necessarily because it was unique, but because it rightly summarizes the kind of speech that Paul delivered each time he had the opportunity to address a synagogue.

Though, this whole sermon would have been delivered all at once, we are going to work our way through it in three stages so we can really wrap our mind around both Paul’s approach to evangelistic preaching in the synagogues and his understanding of the whole Biblical story.

If we pay close attention to this sermon… Paul teaches us how to read our Bibles in light of the coming of Jesus Christ.

so with all this in mind, lets read, and lets pray for understanding.

Acts 13:13–25 ESV

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

Lets Pray

As Paul and his companions entered into Antioch in Pisidia they would have been met with the sights and the sounds of the Roman empire.

Pisidan Antioch was known as the “New Rome”

It was home to many 1st century senators and high ranking Roman authorities.

More than that it was dominated by Roman architecture, buildings, and even a temple giving tribute to the imperial cult - the worship of the Roman emperor.

In the midst of all this emperor worship, there was one group of people who would have served as the natural starting point for Paul’s message.

The synagogue - the meeting of the Jewish people for worship of the one true God.

Verse 14 tells us that on the Sabbath they entered the Synagogue and sat down.

John Stott writes and gives us a little background on what it would have been like to attend such a sabbath service at a synagogue in the first century.

He writes,

“The synagogue service will have begun with a recitation of the Shema (‘The Lord your God is one, and you shall love the Lord your God…’) and some prayers, continued with two lessons, one from the Pentateuch and the other from the prophets, followed by an expository sermon and concluded with a blessing.”

- John Stott, Acts, p.222

Stott’s descriptions fits with what we see in verse 15.

look at verse 15 with me.

Acts 13:15 ESV

15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”

It seems that Paul was recognized as a visiting teacher and he was given the floor to offer a word of encouragement from these Scriptural readings.

This was an opportunity that Paul did not need to stop and pray about.

Paul was just given the invitation to do exactly what he had hoped to do.

This was a divinely orchestrated opportunity for Paul to preach the person and work of Jesus.

In fact, we will see this time and time again throughout the book of Acts.

Truth #1 God is Sovereignly Working Through Our Opportunities

Along the way God is actively, and sovereignly, in the details of Paul’s journey.

He is opening doors.

He is closing doors.

He is working to get the news about Jesus to the nations.

Paul is simply walking through the doors.

And this invitation to speak in a Synagogue is a big open door.

I just want to pause briefly and encourage you to keep your spiritual eyes open.

to the unbeliever in the room, you are here in this room this morning, not by accident.

The message you are hearing this morning is not the result of a randomized chain of events.

But God is sovereignly behind the scenes orchestrating that he might invite you to hear and believe the message of salvation that he is weaving throughout human history.

Likewise, to the believer, the God of the book of Acts, is the same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is working now, and he is working through you. Open your spiritual eyes to the invitations all around you to speak the message of Jesus.

Thats exactly what Paul does.

Acts 13:16 ESV

16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.

We know where Paul wants to get to in this address.

He wants to get to the person and work of the resurrected Jesus.

He wants to introduce these Jewish worshippers to

the one who resurrected from the dead,

the one who offers eternal life,

the true king of kings and lord of lords….

But he doesn’t start there.

He starts with the story of the Old Testament Scriptures… the Story God has been weaving together from the beginning.

a story that these Jews of the synagogue read about every week.

a story that Paul believed was always pointing to the person and work of Jesus.

But, as we read, I want you to notice the thread that Paul is highlighting.

Almost all the action verbs over the next 8 verses is attributed to God.

As I read take note what Paul says God is actively doing throughout human history.

Paul wants to make this point that crystal clear.

Truth #2 God is Sovereignly Working Through Human History

Acts 13:16–17 ESV

16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

God Chose Our Fathers

Paul is referencing the book of Genesis.

He is referencing Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham was seemingly unimportant pagan man with a barren wife, whom God graciously chose to reveal himself all the way back in Genesis 12.

In the midst of a world spiraling into self-destruction, cursed by sin, God chose to bless Abraham, and promised that from Abraham would come a nation that would bless all the families of the Earth.

Abraham did nothing to deserve such a blessing,

But God was sovereignly working through human history.

He was up to something.

And totally out of his own gracious prerogative he chose Abraham.

AND verse 17 says… he made the people great during their stay in Egypt.

listen to what Paul is saying.

The God of the Universe intervened in human history, chose a particular man to be the vehicle through which blessing would come into a cursed world.

The rest of the old testament traces this promise of blessing through this chosen people.

The rest of the old testament is asking the question, how will God bring blessing to all the families of the earth through the offspring of Abraham?

God gave his barren wife a miracle child, Isaac, and then Jacob,

And God sovereignly orchestrated and accomplished the multiplication of children through multiple generations by the millions, until a special nation was born whom God would reveal himself to and through.

When that nation was enslaved by the wicked nation of Egypt,

Again, God worked.

Acts 13:17 ESV

17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

With uplifted arm GOD led them out of Egypt.

Paul now is referencing the Exodus story.

Where God showcased his power in raising up Moses to lead his people while God miraculously crushed the most powerful empire in the world.

God showcased his grace by making a way of salvation for the Israelites through strange instructions.

They would be delivered from the wrath of God,

but only if they sacrificed a spotless lamb,

and covered their door post with the blood of that lamb.

What a strange thing for God to command.

What a strange way to be saved from slavery and death through trust in the blood of a spotless, sacrificial lamb.

But God did it.

And not because Israel was an amazing sinless people.

look at verse 18.

Acts 13:18 ESV

18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

Paul now references the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy which tells the history of Israel’s wilderness years following their deliverance from Egypt.

The phrase “put up with them” is another action verb that the Lord is doing.

It either refers to the way in which God graciously, and patiently endured Israel’s constant rebellion against him,

or it means that God put them on his back and he actively carried them in the wilderness.

Either way you interpret it, both are true.

God actively sustained them during the years that Israel actively and ungratefully rejected him,

Not only has he delivered them from slavery with his own uplifted arm, and not only does he carry them through the wilderness, he defeats their enemies, and gives them a place to dwell.

Acts 13:19 ESV

19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

Paul now references the book of Joshua.

Where God raised up Joshua a deliverer and a warrior who would lead the people.

In the book of Joshua, God destroyed Israel’s enemies.

and God gave them a land to dwell in that they might worship him and reflect his glory to the world.

At this point, in Paul’s sermon, he pauses to take a breath and just to be clear where we are in the story, he gives a timeline.

Acts 13:20 (ESV)

20 All this took about 450 years...

That little timeline detail alone showcases that this is God’s story.

He is doing something in the world that spans multiple generations.

He is God, the eternal one, having no beginning and no end.

He makes a promise to Abraham that he will bless all the families of the earth through his chosen offspring…, and he is fulfilling that promise over the course of hundreds of years and multiple generations.

God is Sovereignly Working Through Human History

Acts 13:20 ESV

20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

If your following the Old Testament story line,

Paul is now referencing the book of Judges and the books of 1 and 2 Samuel

After God had done so very much for the people of Israel.

The book of Judges covers hundreds of years of their history, but it represents a repeating cycle.

The book of Judges reveals a historical pattern that keeps repeating itself throughout the story.

We can look at one blurp which really summarizes the history of the judges.

Judges 2:11–19 ESV

11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. 16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

Over and over again, the people of Israel rejected God, faced the consequences of that rejection, and then God graciously raised up a deliverer who came to free them from their enemies.

Then again, they would reject God, face the consequences, and ask for deliverance

This pattern over the course of hundreds of years made several things crystal clear.

Firstly, the biggest problem facing Israel was not foreign enemies, it was their sin nature.

Secondly, God is both powerful and gracious to save through the deliverer of his choosing.

During this time, God was their king,

but eventually Israel asked God for a human king who could rule over them like the other nations,

and though their motives were evil, God provided.

Acts 13:21–22 ESV

21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

Here Paul now references 1 and 2 Samuel as well as 1 and 2 Chronicles.

God gave them a King named Saul.

Saul rejected God, and God removed him.

God raised up David to be King over the people.

And God famously made David a promise, just like he had made a promise to Abraham.

To Abraham, God promised an offspring who would bless all the families of the earth… (though at this point in the story, the offspring of Abraham have been anything but a blessing)

To David, God promises an offspring who would establish God’s kingdom forever…. someone who would sit on the throne forever.

Someone who would defeat all of God’s enemies once and for all.

At this point, all of the Jews in the synagogue would have been hanging on Paul’s every word.

They knew the stories.

They knew God was sovereign over human history.

They knew the promises.

The entire Old Testament story over the course of thousands of years was tracing the activity of God and more specifically the promise of God to work through human history to bring blessing into a cursed world.

This was all review for them….

But here is where Paul makes the turn that perhaps they weren’t expecting.

Acts 13:23 ESV

23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

Truth #3 Jesus is the Climax of History and the Fulfillment of All God’s Promises

Paul identifies Jesus as the offspring of David.

And that word “offspring” takes us all the way back to the first promise of God in Genesis 3.

When sin came into the world through the temptation of a rebellious creature, God promised that an offspring of Eve would one day crush the head of the serpent.

Throughout the story we learn that the deliver would come through an offspring of eve, and offspring of Abraham, an offspring of David.

And here Paul is saying, Jesus is that promised one.

He is the deliverer, that all previously deliverers were foreshadowing.

The savior that all previous promises find their fulfillment.

Through Jesus will blessing be offered to all the families of the earth.

He is the better moses who leads us out of slavery and through the wilderness

He is the spotless lamb who shed his own blood, that we might trust in him and be delivered from the wrath of God.

He is the better Joshua who conquers our enemies and leads us into a promised land.

He is the final judge who hears our cry for salvation and saves us from self-destruction.

He is the true King from the line of David who will establish God’s eternal kingdom on Earth.

Jesus is the Climax of History and the Fulfillment of All God’s Promises

The prophets foretold of a day when this promised one would arrive.

They said that someone would announce his arrival,

someone like the prophet Elijah would proclaim that the the King as arrived.

Isaiah 40:3 ESV

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Malachi 3:1 ESV

1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Paul says that John the Baptist was that voice.

He was that messenger.

Before the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry,

John the Baptist began preaching with power throughout Israel that the time of the kingdom of God was at hand.

Acts 13:24–25 ESV

24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

Paul’s reference lines up perfectly with the beginning of Mark’s gospel.

Listen to how Mark begins the story of Jesus.

Mark 1:1–8 ESV

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

John the Baptist is saying what Paul is saying.

Jesus is the Climax of History and the Fulfillment of All God’s Promises.

He comes to forgive sins, and he comes to immerse his people with the Holy Spirit of God.

We are going to pause here in Paul’s sermon, though there is a lot more to meditate upon…

We are going to pause right here and pick up where we left off next week.

But, as we do, lets consider some implications of what we have seen thus far.

What should we takeaway from Paul’s first recorded sermon thus far?

Takeaways:

#1 Read the Bible in Communion with the Divine Author

We will talk more about this next week, but notice how Paul understands the entire Old Testament story.

Though the books of the Old Testament were penned by different authors over the course of hundreds of years, Paul sees a divine unity in the Scriptures.

He believes not just that these are interesting ancient writings from human authors, but that there is a divine author orchestrating all that has been written to tell a unified story about what God would do through Jesus.

God breathed out these words by his Spirit that we might know God and know what he is up to in the world through the saving work of Jesus.

The first thing Jesus directed his disciples to when he rose from the dead was how the Bible had been preparing the world for his resurrection.

Luke 24:44–46 ESV

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

This was the plan from the beginning.

That Jesus would die for our sins and raise again..

And that we would be strengthened in our faith by reading the inspired words of God which tell the story and what it means for us.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

#2 Seize Opportunities to Tell the Biblical Story

There is power in showing people how God has worked throughout history.

There is power in pointing them to Jesus as the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

There is power in the Biblical story.

We believe that people are saved from their sins eternally through faith in Jesus…

and one of the best ways to introduce someone to Jesus is to invite them to study the Biblical story with you.

If you don’t know how to have a conversation with a loved one or a friend who doesn’t believe, just try inviting them to study a book of the bible with you and show them how it points most ultimately to Jesus.

Let the word of God do the work of revealing God to them.

2 Peter 1:19–21 ESV

19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Paul personally saw the resurrected Jesus…, but he first appeals here to the Scripture’s witness about what Jesus came to do.

#3 Wait on the Lord

Paul is retelling the story of God’s working in human history and their is a cosmic cohesiveness to it.

but God’s unfolding plan spanned multiple generations of people who have either

- rejected the Lord

- or who have trusted his word and have waited on his working.

2 Peter 3:8–9 ESV

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The whole Biblical story should give us a sense of peace that surpasses all understanding.

We know that God has made promises of eternal life to us who have trusted Jesus.

That frees us to endure anything and everything this short life throws at us.

We know that God has sovereignly brought down whole empires and brought into being whole nations from a barren woman.

If he can steer all of human history…,

he can also handle the all the details of our lives.

If he can walk on water and calm the seas with a word…,

We can trust him when he allows 8 inches of water into our church building or our home.

We live in a gospel confidence that all the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus, even when we cannot yet see the end of the story.

Our role in this world is a faithful waiting for God to do just as he has promised to do.

I’ll close with this.

In the book of revelation, John the disciple, is in his 90’s.

He has endured persecution and exile for the cause of Christ.

And the Lord comes to him in a vision and shows him a heavenly scene in the throne room of God.

John sees God the Father and in his hand, there is a scroll containing the final plan for bringing the world to its final consummation.

Opening the scroll means the final victory over all that is evil.

But John weeps because, in his vision, no one was worthy to open the scroll,

until someone enters the throne room.

He is identified as a son of David, the lion of the tribe of Judah, but then he is described to be a lamb that looked like he had been slain.

And when he enters the throne room… all of heaven irrupts into praise, because he alone is worthy to open the scroll because he shed his perfect blood for the people of God.

He alone is worthy to fulfill all of God’s promises and to bring total restoration to the world.

He alone is the king who will establish his kingdom on earth forever and ever.

We are waiting on him… and it will be worth the wait.

Lets pray.