Sermon Tone Analysis

God will save you or shake you!

God will save you or shake you!

“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

"What does it mean to not be ashamed of the Gospel ()?"

Answer: In , Paul addresses the Gentile believers at Rome and begins by explaining his mission, which was to preach the gospel to everyone.

He concludes his explanation by saying, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’”

The word translated “ashamed” means “disgraced” or “personally humiliated.”

A person “ashamed” in this way is like someone singled out for misplacing his confidence—he trusted in something, and that something let him down.

The word can refer to being dishonored because of forming the wrong alliances.

So, when Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel, he is saying his confidence in the gospel is not misplaced.

He is saying that there is no disgrace in declaring the gospel.

He is saying that he has given his life to proclaiming the truths that Jesus Himself had revealed to him, he is saying that, as he went on this way one day, on his way to Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly shined upon all around him.

And he fell to the ground, then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And he said, “Who are you Lord?”

And the voice said I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Paul remembers as he was headed towards Damascus with a warrant to arrest Christians, Christ Jesus issued His warrant and arrested His soul.

He explained to the Romans why he did not believe that he had wrongly identified with Jesus and that God had changed his nature and ultimately his name and now he was proclaiming Jesus’ message as his life’s work.

The application can extend to us as well.

Just as Paul placed his confidence in the gospel of Christ, so can we.

We can proclaim with boldness the truths that God has revealed in His Word, with no fear that our confidence is misplaced.

“Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame”

, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

Therefore We can rest in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of Scripture never changes What was true thousands of years ago is still true.

The offer of salvation that was presented to people of the first century is still open to us.

To live unashamed of the gospel means we proclaim it, but it also means we apply it to our lives and show we believe it.

Paul’s life choices supported his message.

He did not preach one thing and live another.

We are “ashamed of the gospel” when we allow sin in our lives to go unchecked.

We are ashamed of the gospel when we indulge in worldliness and carnal desires or blatantly disobey scriptural standards.

And we are ashamed of the gospel when we indicate that we lack confidence in our own message.

“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,

a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:

‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

Therefore We can rest in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of Scripture never changes What was true thousands of years ago is still true.

The offer of salvation that was presented to people of the first century is still open to us.

To live unashamed of the gospel means we proclaim it, but it also means we apply it to our lives and show we believe it.

Paul’s life choices supported his message.

He did not preach one thing and live another.

We are “ashamed of the gospel” when we allow sin in our lives to go unchecked.

We are ashamed of the gospel when we indulge in worldliness and carnal desires or blatantly disobey scriptural standards.

And we are ashamed of the gospel when we indicate that we lack confidence in our own message.

, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

When we “walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners, and sit in the seat of scoffers”, we are being ashamed of the gospel.

We are not allowing the gospel’s truth to penetrate our lives so that others see its changing power.

To live unashamed of the gospel means that we, like Paul, allow it to dominate our lives to the extent that everyone within our sphere of influence can see that we have “been with Jesus.

Now let’s us seek to answer the why did Paul say that the gospel brings salvation to the Jew first and then the Gentile?

The gospel is intended for all people.

But, chronologically, the gospel message was first revealed to the Jewish people before it was revealed to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people).

The Jews are God’s chosen people,

, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

Through the Jews, God demonstrated His love and holiness to the world: “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.

Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah” ().

It was through the seed of Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed.”

That promised blessing came through Jesus Christ, as explained in , “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.

It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”

Jesus was born as a Jew under the Law, fulfilled the Jewish Law perfectly, and died as a once-for-all sacrifice on behalf of all who would put their faith in Him.

In His public ministry, Jesus spoke of being sent to the Jews, and He focused His efforts on them.

He was the Jewish Messiah, and He had come, in part, to “strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph” ().

On one occasion, Jesus seemed to rebuff the pleas of a Gentile woman (though He later helped her) in .

Jesus predicted that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in [Christ’s] name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (, emphasis added).

The gospel of the kingdom was to be a blessing to the whole world, but it was natural that it be first proclaimed to Israel.

When Paul speaks of the gospel bringing salvation “first to the Jew” in , he alludes to the special relationship the Jews had to the Messiah.

The Christ was the Son of David, the hope of the Messiah had long been held by the Jews.

So, when the gospel of Christ was first proclaimed, the Jews had priority.

We see this prioritization in Paul’s first missionary journey.

Every time they would come to a new city, Paul and Barnabas would preach in the synagogue to the Jews in that city.

There are several important things to note about Paul’s statement that the power of God in the gospel “brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

First, God did not cease saving Jews in order to save Gentiles.

In all of his missionary journeys, Paul continued to preach first in the synagogues.

God continues to desire the salvation of the entire world.

, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

Second, Jews are neither better nor worse than Gentiles.

All need the Savior, and, in Christ, all are on equal spiritual footing.

reminds us we “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

The believing Gentile is just as welcome in the family of God as the believing Jew.

The Jew who has faith in Christ Jesus is just as secure in his salvation as the born-again Gentile.

Finally, salvation comes the same way to both Jews and Gentiles.

It is for “everyone who believes” ().

Jesus is the only way of salvation regardless of one’s heritage.

Paul said, “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” ().

says, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

All must come to Jesus in faith for salvation, and all are equally accepted by Him when they do.

God will save you or shake you … if you thrust Him aside.

Now as we look at our text this morning, this first dramatic turning of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles is given a theological rationale by Paul in terms of the fulfillment of the Servant’s role in , “he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Given their previous ministry in Syrian Antioch (11:22–26), their preaching to Gentiles in Pisidian Antioch was no new thing.

However, abandonment of the synagogue, in order to minister to Gentiles in their own context, required some explanation.