The Gospel to the Gentiles

When the missionary trio of Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark set sail from Paphos to head north to Pamphylia, I am sure they were excited about the prospect of what the Lord would do in this new country. As I mentioned briefly last week, we do not know what kind of success they saw in Cyprus, because Scripture only tells us of one conversion, that being of Sergius Paulus. However, they knew they were doing what the Holy Spirit had called them to (Acts 13:2), so they were plodding along from village to city spreading the Gospel to the people, happily doing the Lord’s work.

However, when they arrived in Perga, John Mark suddenly departs from their party. He was no doubt wearied from the journey, or was deterred by the perils they had faced, or the prospects of what they would soon face. Whatever the reason, he got on the first ship heading back to Jerusalem (perhaps by way of Joppa).

Perhaps the abandonment of John Mark is what Paul had in mind when he penned Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” This region that Paul was traveling to when John Mark quit is part of the greater Galatian region, and this letter was written about a year after this initial contact with the Gauls of that region.

This is a good reminder for us of two inevitable truths: if we do good works (the works of the Lord):

we will face hardships.

we will grow weary.

But do not let either of those things define you. Instead, we should choose to be defined by the strength and endurance that comes as a gift from the Lord by our faithfulness to Him. We are in a reaping season right now. But a lot of hard work, sweat, blood, insect bites, sore backs, and fighting against nature and critters had to precede the harvest of tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers. If we had grown weary and gave up halfway through, or even a week before harvest, we would have lost everything. The kingdom of God is no different.

In fact, Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a wheat field. In Matthew, Jesus gives a parable:

Matthew 13:24–30 KJV 1900

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The church itself is a field, and in that field there is a mixture of wheat that the Master has planted, and weeds that the enemy has snuck in and sown among the wheat. In many cases, they are indistinguishable until the time of harvest, and that is, the day of judgment. In that day, Jesus Himself will instruct the weeds to be burned and the wheat to gathered.

There is a likelihood that in this church, some of you are tares. If that is so, I may never know, and those sitting next to you and serving alongside of you may never know. Like Judas, you have gone through the motions of serving the Lord, but you have never given Him your heart. You have never believed on Jesus Christ for salvation, and He is not your Lord. To you, He is nothing more than a good leader and moral example. And in the day of harvest, when the reapers gather up the tares and the wheat, and you are examined to find out which variety you are, Jesus will say to you, Matthew 7:23 ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of law lessness.’

But that does not have to be the end. You can profess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, repent of your sins, give Him your heart, and be baptized in accordance with His example and commands. He will take your weedy, broken heart and make it a heart of sweet wheat that He will gladly take into His kingdom.

Back to the text

From Perga to Pisidian Antioch: Verse 14-15

After what seems to be a short stay in Perga, Paul and Barnabas take a long and perilous journey to the north to the city of Antioch. If you were to walk this journey today, it would take between 4-5 days and cover between 190-250 km (depending on the route). The journey was marked by raging rivers and bands of robbers that were prevalent in the rugged terrain of that region. It is this that Paul was likely writing about years later in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:26 “on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;”).

On the Sabbath, like in Cyprus, they were given the opportunity to speak in the synagogue after the reading of the Law and the Prophets. At this point, Paul stood up and began to walk the congregation through history to show them how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. He started by addressing those who were present: “men of Israel and ye that fear God.”

men of Israel = descendants of Abraham

those who fear God = Gentile proselytes

The sermon

God chose their people and made them great

He rescued them out of Egypt

then He put up with them for 40 years in the wilderness

and used them to destroy the 7 pagan nations of Caanan and gave Israel its land

from the time of God calling Abram

to the beginning of the time of the Judges

then He raised up a period of judges to guide the people

but they demanded a king out of the hardness of their hearts

the first king was Saul...of the tribe of Benjamin

Paul was first known as Saul, and he was also of the tribe of Benjamin

then Saul was removed and David was raised up to be the king, who was a man after God’s heart

Paul references Psalm 89:20 “I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him,” and 1 Samuel 13:14 “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

and from the lineage of David the messiah of Israel came forth, the Savior Jesus

but before Jesus came, John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance

not a baptism FOR repentance, but one to FOLLOW repentance

and then John testified saying he was not the Promised One, but merely the forerunner

The conclusion

Paul again addresses his audience: Acts 13:26

Acts 13:26 KJV 1900

Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

He reiterates the point that the word of salvation - THE GOSPEL - is sent to them. Jesus said in Matthew 15:24 “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This does not mean that the Gospel is only for the people of Israel, but that Jesus’ ministry was to them, and then they were to believe on Him and then take His message and truth to the world. But, as Paul points out in the next couple of verses (vv. 27-29), Jerusalem rejected and murdered Jesus. By proxy, Jerusalem represented all of the nation of Israel, who had rejected Christ, and so now the devout Jews abroad were receiving the message, and this included those who were of Gentile bloodline but had converted to the worship of Yahweh. So Paul is telling them, “you have now received the beautiful gift that was rejected by the ‘elite’ in Israel.”

Imagine a row of fireworks set up for a grand finale. The fuse is lit at the start of the field, and as it burns, each shell lights in sequence — bigger and brighter.

First, small fountains — Abraham.

Then sparklers — Moses.

Then loud bursts — David.

The crowd starts to cheer — it’s all building toward something.

Finally, the fuse reaches the massive grand finale. The sky explodes in color and sound.

That final burst is Jesus, the fulfillment of everything promised.

But now, imagine someone watching all that unfold… and then turning and walking away right before the grand finale begins, missing the entire purpose of the show.

The fuse was burning from the beginning — all leading to Jesus.

And now, we stand at the end of the line. The fireworks have gone off. Salvation is here. What will we do?

Now we come to the beautiful truth of the Gospel in verses 30-39

The proof that Jesus is who He said He is was in the resurrection. And Paul makes the point very definitely that it was God who raised Him from the dead. He says in verses 32-33 that the promises God had made to their ancestors was fulfilled in their generation (what an amazing privilege to be witness to the fulfillment of prophecy!), and then he quotes Psalm 2:7

Psalm 2:7 ESV

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

This, of course, is a Messianic psalm, foretelling of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16) who has come to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

To further prove his point, Paul in verses 34-37 references another Psalm that foretold of the resurrection of Christ: Psalm 16:10

Psalm 16:10 KJV 1900

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Although this psalm was written by David in the first person, we know it is not about David, because as Paul points out, after fulfilling God’s purpose for him, David died and his body did see corruption. His physical body was reduced to a pile of bones, which soon turned to dust. But Christ, by being raised from the dead on the third day, did not have a body that saw corruption. This does not indicate that His body was immaculate, but instead it speaks to the power of God who gave new life to a body that was dead.

And through this man Jesus, who is the only begotten Son of God, and the only One whose body has not seen corruption, and the only who is sinless, we preach the forgiveness of sins.

Acts 13:39 KJV 1900

And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

The implication here is not that the Law of Moses was insufficient for complete justification and Jesus came to fill in the gaps: the Law was completely insufficient was only designed to separate Israel from the world and prepare her to give birth to the Savior first, and then the church. Justification (or justify: “just if I’d” never sinned) comes to all who believe on Jesus, and never for those who followed Moses’ law.

close with reading verses 40-42

Challenge:

Don’t walk away before the finale. Don’t miss the Savior everything was building toward.

God lit the fuse. History burned forward. Jesus came.

Now the choice is yours.