Acts 13 | "Continue in the Grace of God"

Public Reading of Scripture

Acts 13:36–43 ESV

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: 41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ” 42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Introduction to Theme

At this changing of the years, as this year comes to a close, and the new year soon begins, this is the word of encouragement I want us to cling to —

— The words Paul and Barnabas spoke to the devout Jews and God fearers who were begging to hear more teaching about God.

These words are found at the end of v.34:

“continue in the grace of God.”

We are all here as a product of God’s grace.

We live, we move, we have our being because of God’s grace.

What is grace?

The grace of God, is God giving us what we do not deserve.

The grace of God is God’s favor that we cannot earn.

Our gathering together this morning, in the name of Jesus and in the presence of His Spirit, around God’s Word, is evidence of God’s grace.

Church: If God has shown you grace in 2019, would you let it be known in praise by saying “Amen”? Amen!

Because God has shown us a measure of His grace, let us heed these words, and continue in that grace!

The same grace of God abounding to us this year, will be abundant in the coming year also. God is a God of grace, so let us continue in His grace.

Let us Pray.

God of grace, God of glory, who gave us your only Son Jesus into the world as we have celebrated at Christmastime, so that we might be forgiven of sins and made new because He offered Himself on the cross in our place,

by this same grace with which you gave Jesus to the world, and by this same grace with which you have saved us, we ask and believe that your grace would also sustain us, to do your will.

May we have the courage as your people — your Church— with the boldness to continue in the grace of God, ever mindful with the changing of the years that each year is a gift from you, and each year belongs to you. Help us we pray to finish this year well and start the next in your strength and grace.

With thanksgiving we continue to give our attention to the hearing and preaching of your word. We pray for your grace to have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to obey. In the authority and power of the name of Jesus we pray together as your Church, Amen.

Introduction

The Book of Acts is part 2 of a theological narrative of all that Jesus began to do and teach.

But what Jesus began to do and teach as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus continues to do and teach as recorded in the book of Acts.

And Jesus continues His work by His Holy Spirit through His Apostles, His disciples and His Church…even today!

Acts 13 represents a continuation of God working to send the message of salvation in Jesus from Jerusalem to the end of the earth. Crossing cultural and geographic boundaries. Overcoming resistance and opposition.

Acts 13:1 gives evidence for this by showing how far the Gospel of Jesus has already spread (even to Antioch) because of persecution, and there is a diversity of workers in that church, with a diversity of backgrounds, and God’s grace is evident in his provision of a diversity of gifts to build up and sustain that church:

Acts 13:1 (ESV)

“Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers…”

Notice where prophets and teachers were found — “in the church”

Prophets and Teachers are two provisions of God that deal directly with the ministry of the word of God.

The place where the word of God may be found and heard is ordinarily “in the church.” In the gathering of God’s people.

One of the ways the Protestant Reformation answered the question: “Where is the Church to be found” was with the response: “The Church is to be found where the Word of God is preached...”

Acts 13:1 ESV

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

It is with emphasis that the name Saul ends that sentence.

Acts 13 marks the beginning of a focus on the mission work of Saul, the man who was persecuting the Church of Jesus Christ, who approved of the execution of Stephen, and a man who was on a mission of opposition to Jesus…

— but while on a road to Damascus he was met by the Lord who appeared to him, and was set apart by the Lord as a chosen instrument to carry the name of Jesus before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

Saul was a man who was changed --- who went from persecuting Jesus to uniting with Jesus. From causing harm to the followers of Jesus to suffering harm on account of Him.

He was a man who was bound to the law of God, but learned about God’s grace and freedom as he experienced it in his own life time and time again.

Saul has been in and out of the story of Acts, but in Acts 13 Saul is sent out to do the work God had called Him to. In Acts 13 there is a formal “commissioning” of Saul for the work God had called him to.

It was in Acts 9 that Saul met Jesus, but by Acts 13 years have passed. Saul has matured in his faith. He’s practiced his craft — in Tarsus for a season, where he was later found by Barnabas who brought him to Antioch to help teach and build up the church there.

For Saul, his commissioning did not come immediately after his calling or conversion. There was space between for God to grow Saul.

At the end of this year, there may be things that God started but to us it seems like God has left them unfinished. God never leaves what he starts unfinished! God always finishes what He starts!

Wait on God! Be patient! The changing of the years is a good reminder that what God started this year He may intend to complete next year or several years down the road.

We don’t have to know right now the end of the work God recently began.

The point is —

We are all living right now as a part of God’s grace, which includes God’s plan and purposes to be fulfilled in God’s timing in His ways!

The changing of the years offers a renewed call for us as God’s people to be faithful with what we have been entrusted with — with the seeds that God has planted and is planting — believing that in God’s time those seeds will grow after seasons of faithful watering and nourishing.

The changing of the years is a reminder for us not to to be changing, but for us to be faithful. Persistent. Continuing in the grace of God.

After Saul’s conversion, Saul does not sit idly by waiting for Gentiles and kings to cross his path to fulfill God’s calling on his life. Instead, Saul gets to work faithfully entrusting Himself to the positioning and timing of God. He teaches, he ministers, and he worships.

The big things will come when the little things are mastered. When Saul is found faithful in little, he will be given much more to be faithful with.

In the right time, the Lord spoke with guidance concerning Saul:

Acts 13:2 ESV

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

The Holy Spirit spoke at a time when the Church was worshiping together.

That word “worshiping” is a word that was used to describe the work of the priests in the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Is is a word for worship through service. It would have included the prophets and teachers serving by prophesying and teaching and ministering God’s word to the people. And it would have included service of prayer (NIVAC, 374).

This is helpful instruction for us when we want to hear God speak.

We tend to prioritize the individual nature of our relationship with God, as if our personal walk with the Lord is more important than our corporate relationship with Him through His Church.

But the Church in Acts 13 models that God speaks when the Church worships together. Acts 13 models that the corporate relationship with God as a body of believers gathered together is just as important as your individual relationship with God.

What does this say about your Church attendance? How important is it for you to faithfully attend our gatherings together?

Can you really expect to hear from God when you are not part of His fellowship of believers?

Do not neglect, then, the gathering of yourselves together!

You may not hear God speaking because you are not among the Church gathering together for worship. But in the same way, WE as the Church may not hear God speaking because you are not here with us.

Let me encourage you as you prepare your commitments and resolutions for next year — commit, better yet — covenant with the Lord and with us that unless you are providentially hindered, that you will attend our gathering of worship on Sunday mornings.

We need you. We need the gifts God has graciously given you. We need your presence and your prayers and your service so that WE as a Church together can hear from God.

Where do you start? I want everyone to commit to Sunday morning worship. This is the starting place. Sunday School is good, evening gatherings are good — but start simply.

Sunday mornings are a time where we pray together as the church, we read the Scripture together as the church, we hear preaching as a church, we give generously to God as a church, where we respond to God as a church.

This is our “service” or “worship” and this is what the church was doing in Acts 13. This is how the Church is faithful.

Notice who does the speaking. It is the Holy Spirit. v.2: “The Holy Spirit said...”

We aren’t told how this speaking occurred, whether it was a voice or some other way. But the Holy Spirit often speaks through the Word of God and the Spirit’s speaking is often confirmed by the people of God in the Church. God speaks in context of community.

It is likely that the Spirit spoke through the prophesying and teaching of God’s Word, and all the believers were there serving, worshiping, fasting and heard and confirmed together the speaking and leading of the Spirit in unity and agreement.

Acts 13 is the only place fasting is mentioned in all of Acts. Fasting is abstaining from food and even drink for a time of intense focus and devotion to the things of God.

It leads us to ask: What was the church in Antioch seeking from the Lord?

We aren’t told what the church was asking for. We only see one side of the prayer — we only see what the Spirit spoke, how God answered.

Based on the Spirit’s answer, it seems that the church was seeking the Lord for guidance. —- Lord, what do we do next?

Paul and Barnabas had been in Antioch for a year teaching. — What do we do next?

For years, Saul has been maturing in his faith, teaching about Jesus, but hasn’t yet spoken to kings as Jesus said he would. — What does Saul do next?

It seems that their worship was a worship of seeking the will and wisdom and guidance and direction of the Lord.

And WHILE they were worshiping, not before, the Spirit speaks:

Acts 13:2 (ESV)

...”Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

God has called Barnabas and Saul for a specific work, and God uses His Church as the vehicle for setting them apart and sending them out for that work. The Spirit speaks to the Church to “set them apart.”

The Church is an incubator of ministry and the launching pad of missions. It is that gathering where the gifts of God find expression, where the people of God are built up, where the word of God is working, and where the mission of God is furthered!

The work of God will pass through the Church!

If we are not committed to one another, as the Church, then we will not be fruitful in carrying on God’s work in the world.

Acts 13:3 ESV

3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The Church obeyed. After waiting on the Lord, and worshiping in the waiting, and after receiving guidance, they agreed together and obeyed the Spirit’s instruction by commissioning Barnabas and Saul for the specific work prepared for them — and then sent them off to do it.

Someone once said, (I believe it was Rick Warren), that a church should not be measured by its seating capacity, but by its sending capacity.

That’s a very biblical measurement for the size of a church!

I pray that by the grace of God in the coming years He will send and raise up people that this congregation may then send out on mission for Jesus in the world!

What God had planned for Barnabas and Saul in verse 2 is described as a “work.” The word is “ ἔργον.” It is “that which one normally does — a work, a task” (LN).

In Acts 13, there are three different words used to describe how God tasks His people in the workings of His plan.

As we end this year, I believe it is fitting to look at these words by way of encouraging us in the ways God is calling us according to his purposes and grace.

For Saul and Barnabas, God has a work.

That work involved “proclaiming the word of God” (13:5).

The word of God is what a man named Sergius Paulus, a proconsul or Roman official, sought to hear (13:7), as did the people.

And in light of this man’s name, Sergius Paulus, the writer of Acts tells us Saul is also called “Paul” and becomes known by this name.

Saul is a Hebrew name — but Saul from here on becomes known by his Roman name of Paul. Because he will be used of God to proclaim Jesus not primarily to the Hebrews, but to the Gentiles. So he uses his Roman name.

On the Sabbath day in a synagogue Antioch of Pisidia, Acts 13:15 says:

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.”

This was a normal part of synagogue worship. There would be a reading of Scripture, then someone would offer an encouragement to the people from it. Paul is given this invitation —

Acts 13:16 ESV

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

And to the Hebrews Paul begins with what they are familiar with — with the God of Israel and he preaches to them a summary of the Old Testament, in every case showing how God is working toward salvation in a coming Savior who is Jesus.

He talks about Israel’s stay in Egypt, God’s deliverance of Egypt, how the people wondered in the wilderness for 40 years, how God gave the people the land he promised to them, how the people wanted a king, how God gave them a king, how God removed that king (Saul), and raised up a king who was in tune with the hear of God to do God’s will (David).

Paul preaches from the Old Testament.

The Gospel is more than the Old Testament, but it is not Less than the Old Testament.

The Gospel is the continuation and the fulfillment of what God started, and promised in the Old Testament, and fulfilled in Jesus.

The Bible is not two stories, the Bible is one story.

There is an Old Testament without the New Testament, but there is not a New Testament without the Old Testament!

Acts 13:22 ESV

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.’

Notice that doing the will of God means being in tune with the heart of God.

Paul goes on to preach about the promises made to David about his offspring, prophecies about the coming Savior, Jesus.

And very quickly Paul gets to Jesus. He jumps from David to John the Baptist who came before Jesus to prepare the way by a baptism of repentance.

And look at Acts 13:25:

Acts 13:25 ESV

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.’

Notice the word “course.”

God set apart Barnabas and Saul for a “work”, and now a different word is used of John the Baptist — his “course.” This is a word that speaks of moving from one point to another (BDAG), as in the “course of life” or “mission.”

God has a mission no only for your past, or your present, but also your future!

The mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Jesus. And it was a mission that John finished, and when John finished that mission, he exited the scene.

Paul then preaches about Jesus in verses 26 and following —

How the prophets of old spoke of him, how the Sabbath readings of Scripture confirm Him, how the rulers of God’s people did not recognize him and condemned him, how everything that was written about him came to pass — Jesus died on a tree (the cross), was laid in a tomb, and Acts 13:30:

Acts 13:30 ESV

30 But God raised him from the dead,

And this resurrection was also in the Old Testament scriptures, even in the Psalms of David.

Acts 13:36 ESV

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,

Yet another word is used to describe the work of God’s people in God’s plan.

Barnabas and Saul were commissioned for a work, John the Baptist finished his course/mission — and David “served the purpose of God.”

The mission for David’s life was part of God’s plan of salvation. Part of God’s purposes. Purposes to save.

And only after serving the purpose of God in his own generation, only after fulfilling the purpose God had for him, did David fall asleep.

This phrase “fell asleep” is a way of saying “David died.” It is a phrased used of believers in Jesus in the New Testament — in Jesus they do not die, but they “sleep.” They will be raised in Him!

But here it is a phrase used of an Old Testament person, of David.

Death has no claim on those who are part of the purposes of God in Jesus Christ. David certainly was, and all who believe in Jesus are too!

Conclusion

As we conclude this year, I want to remind you that we all have a work to do in the Lord. We all have a mission. We all have a purpose in God.

That purpose finds its beginning and ending in Jesus Christ.

If you are looking for freedom from what has held you captive in these past years, let this new year be the time you find freedom in Jesus to discover your purpose and live according to the grace of God!

If you are alive in this moment, God still has a purpose he desires to accomplish in you.

Will you allow God to change your heart? To give you new life in Jesus? Or to renew your purpose in Him this coming year?

Let me urge you to remain faithful, let me urge you to continue this year into the next in the grace of God.