Acts 13:13-52

Preaching

Intro:

Thank you Eschers. Kari, Duane,

My name is Alan Hensley. Associate Pastor. It’s a joy to worship with you this morning.

Many of you know that I was born and raised in Alamosa, about 2.5 hours from here. Most of my family lived there growing up. We’ve been a part of that community for a long time. My mom has been a teacher there for many years. Shout out to all of the teachers in here, we appreciate you and all you do for the community. So I grew up in the classroom. I would watch and observe my mom teach elementary students. At the time, I don’t think I realized how impactful that would be throughout my life. Throughout my years in school, it was kind of a blessing a curse because I would have a critical eye for teaching. Fast forward I entered into ministry jobs. Ranging from camping ministry, College ministry, and now pastoral Ministry. All of these ministry settings gave me the opportunity to preach and teach. And as I got the opportunity to do it, the more I began to love it. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes even still I have a love-hate relationship with it.

It's kind of fun to think back on how I used to preach when I first started. I went through some rough stages with preaching. I had a stage of not preaching with my shoes on. For some reason, I think that’s a trend with us younger guys. I also had a stage of constant pacing. I’ve been able to grow over the years. I am still learning this craft, but I do love it. But if you think about the stories of preaching in the Bible you can go all the way back to Moses as he would preach to the Israelites the Word and they would respond. In the bible, we see this long line of men who would preach. And that's true for us in the book of Acts. As we have been reading we have encountered so many sermons whether it be from Peter in Acts chapters 2,3, 4, 10, and 11. Or Stephen in Acts chapter 7. Now here in chapter 13, we get to the point in Acts that Paul really began to preach.

Today we get to see the Apostle Paul’s first recorded sermon. As we do that we want to look at a couple of things that the text provides. We want to look at how Paul preaches and why Paul preaches.

Before we really do that let's pray.

Acts 13:13–14 (ESV)

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos (Pay-fus) and came to Perga in Pamphylia (Pam-fill-ee-ah). And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia (pa-side-ee-ah). And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

If you remember last week we came across the story where we see the author, Luke, tell the story of Paul and his “companions” after the encounter of the magician we talked about last week named Bar-Jesus. From there he tells us where they are heading. First missionary trip. They take off from Paphos (Pay-fus) and go to Perga then once again head somewhere different which is Antioch in Pisidia. But we see something significant happen. We see that not all of the companions followed Paul to Antioch of Pisidia. John Mark decides to head back to Jerusalem in verse 13. We don’t know exactly why he went back, but it seems to be because he was sent back because of some tension. But it seems as if there was some sort of disagreement or something. We don’t know for sure, but we will see at the end of Chapter 15 that it was a big deal for Paul, which then caused another disagreement between Paul and Barnabas (John Mark’s cousin). But that is kind of a spoiler of the story and we will Jimmy cover that one at the end of the month.

Now you may be thinking that in chapter 11 we already visited the Church of Antioch. Which we did, but in today’s scripture, we see the disciples in a different city also named Antioch. There were actually 15-17 cities close to the area that were named Antioch. The one we have first encountered was Antioch of Syria, this was the city the disciples fled to after Steven was martyred in Jerusalem. That Antioch would serve as a sending gound somewhat for the disciples, sort of like a home base for them. We saw this at the beginning of chapter 13 last week. Acts 13:1-3 .

Acts 13:1–3 (ESV)

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (Man-ann) a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch (tet-rark), and Saul. 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.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

It’s kind of confusing, there's a church of Antioch that sends them, but they end up at another Antioch in the passage we read today. Yet, Antioch of Pasida where there are today was much further from Jerusalem. It was a Roman colony that was very “roman” in culture. It really almost served as a military and administrative center for the Romans. Yet at the same time, it also had many Jewish people living there.

Nonetheless, Paul and his companions end up there in Antioch of Pisidia in a Synagogue (Where the Jewish people would worship) on a sabbath. They go and join this worship service, where they would pray, read the law and Prophets there was oftentimes, by someone competent, would give a message alongside the reading. They knew Paul was going to be there and invited him to preach. This is where we hear Pauls's first recorded Sermon.

While we read Paul’s sermon, I want to break down a couple of different elements that he has in this sermon. We want to look at how did Paul preach and what did he preach about. The first element we see is something that we call context.

Elements of Pauls Sermon

1. Context

Acts 13:15–25 (ESV)

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 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. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 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. 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.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 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.’

So what we see here from Paul, is he is plunging into the history of Israel, and how they have become a nation. In verse 15, it talks about how they became great (in numbers) during their stay in Egypt. Eventually Moses led the out of Egypt and they received thier intheritance after 450 years. Talk about waiting on the Lord. God Established a government for them. They had judges until Samuel. They asked for a king, and God gave them Saul. 40 years, removed. Then God gave them a shepherd to be king, David.

We see David become a king who would do God’s Will. There would be an offspring of David who would be the Savior. You think that Paul would stay there and linger on that point that Jesus is coming. But he goes on to go past Jesus and talk about John the Baptist. How John was to prepare the way before Jesus, He knew exactly who Jesus was.

What is Paul doing here? He’s in this Jewish synagogue, people who knew their OT. He’s going through their history and setting up something. In preaching, we want to try and talk about the context of the text. Knowing the context our Bible and who it is talking about. Important because it helps us understand what the author is saying. So Paul is setting up what is going to the heart of his message. The context isn’t addressing the listeners directly, but is setting up the sermon for them to be able to more easily understand the heart of the message.

All the context is doing is setting up what the message is going to be. This leads us to the second part of Paul’s sermon- the message. So he set up the history and even incorporated Jesus in it, but he’s not done there. As we maybe thinking that he brushed over Jesus, he goes back to expand on verse 23. In these next few verses, he starts addressing his listeners directly.

2. The Message

Acts 13:26–29 (ESV)

Acts 13:26–29 ESV

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

So the context led to the heart of the message- that the Israelites didn’t recognize their king who they read about every Sabbath, and they eventually had Him executed. This was all prophesied about, that He would be executed, taken off the tree, and laid in a tomb.

One of the things that is worth noting here, kind of a side note, is we don't have any notes on what Paul’s presentations skills looked like here. But what Luke did observe was the content of Pauls's sermon. See the content, the heart of the message, is more important than style. I think many times, as Americans, we’re more attracted to style than we are to the content of the message. Many of us have heard many different speakers in our life and may prefer some styles over others. But we shouldn’t let style determine what we listen to. I have been to churches where people walk in, see that it's not the person they wanted preaching, and walk out. We can’t be united around style, but we can be united around the content of the message. No matter who we are. Our sermons should be driven by the content, which should be the Gospel.

It should be the same for our worship here at first b. Our motto should always be content over style. To be honest with you, many of us will never get the exact worship style each of us is hoping for, but it should not be the style that drives us to worship. The content is what we gather around. It should be the eternal truths of the Gospel. The content of the message should always be that Jesus, being the Eternal King lived the life we couldn’t live, died the death we deserved, defeating Satan, sin, and death by being raised from the dead.

Paul set up the context with the history of Israel and then he zoomed in on Jesus, the heart of the message, the Gospel. And now he’s about to zoom in even more on a specific event in Jesus’ life.

The message Continued (The resurrection)

Acts 13:30–36 ESV

But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 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,

Why is Paul quoting these OT verses? We see that Paul is zeroing in on the resurrection and kingship of Jesus. He is using the Word of God to prove his point. Paul is proving that Jesus has not only been resurrected from death but that He also comes from the line of David. He would fulfill the promise of 2 Samuel, in having a king who would reign eternally on the throne forever. And that this king would come from the line of David. What’s interesting here is that as He is proving that Jesus is this king who is eternal, He quotes Psalm 2 to make this point.

“You are my son, today I have begotten you”

We actually see in the Old Testament a couple of instances where God would describe his relationship to the kings of Israel, such as David, as a Father and Son.

One of the perfect instances of this happening in the New Testament is when Jesus is get’s baptized, God the Father says to Him

Matthew 3:17 ESV

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The same way that God was communicating to the kings of the OT, is how He is communicating to Jesus here. This was one of the ways that God was communicating that Jesus was this eternal King. But it was not only at the baptism that God the Father called Jesus His Son but the ultimate validation of Jesus holding this office as Son of God and eternal King was through the resurrection.

He showed that, through the resurrection, He has all glory and power, that nothing could hold Jesus back. He now sat at the right hand of God, declaring that it is finished. Nothing could ever beat him. The eternal king cannot die. David experienced death. At the end of this section, Paul is saying that this isn’t talking about David because David died. He saw corruption not only morally, but also in death. Jesus experienced no corruption; not even death, the ultimate thing that sin produced, could hold Him. For an eternal King to reign, He can’t die, because He must live eternally.

We started out this section of scripture in verse 30 with the words, “But God.” I found this quote by David Guznik that ultimately describes what Paul is communicating here through all of these Old Testament references. So if you don’t understand anything I’ve been saying, remember this:

But God: These are wonderful words. Man did his best to fight against God – even to kill Him – but God was greater than man’s sin and rebellion, and Jesus rose from the grave, winning over sin and death. -David Guznik

AS He wins over sin and death, it shows that Jesus is the Eternal King.

So we continue into the height of the message, the spiritual truth, in verse 38.

3. The Spiritual Truth

Acts 13:38–39 (ESV)

Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Remember who Paul is talking to, He is talking to the Jews. The Jews would have been familiar with how Paul is using the word “law.” In Bible terms, it is usually referring to the first 5 books of the bible. These books are called the Pentateuch, so if you ever hear that term that's what it means. But the law was the law of the land for Israel. Their laws were different than our laws than we have in the US. Because our laws are purely cultural laws. Our culture or government makes the laws by which we are governed. But for Israel, there was more that, they had moral laws, cultural laws, and religious laws. Meaning God gave them laws in these areas of life and it was used almost as a measuring stick.

See just like the laws here in the U.S we are called to abide by those laws or there will be consequences. And it was the same for them, but with both religious and moral laws added on top of that. And as you look at all of these laws, you realize quickly that you fall short of the measuring stick. There is a famous analogy that the law served as a mirror for humanity. The law allowed us to look at ourselves rightly because it showed humans how they compared to God, because God is that measuring stick of what is good and perfect. And as we look at our actions, thoughts, and hearts with the law in mind, we see that we fall woefully short of the holiness and goodness of this law.

Paul here is saying the law is purely a way of seeing sinful hearts correctly. But God being rich in mercy provided a way for us to see where we fall short and yet because of Jesus defeating our sin and our shortcomings, He declares us clean and free in Him.

But our stubborn human hearts will see where we fall short and instead of running to God because that is where freedom is, we run to our “own strength” and own abilities to try and fix things ourselves.

But what Paul is saying here is that there is no more striving To try and “fix ourselves”. Instead, even in our weakness and sin, we can run to the eternal King and be free from all our Sin. Even right now some of us may feel guilty that you really need to be better about being free in the Gospel. Instead of bringing that to the Lord, we sometimes try and use our own abilities to “fix” ourselves this week. If we are in Christ we can find rest and hope even in our imperfections and failures. I’ll be honest even this week I tried to run to the law to try and fix myself.

Often times I see where I fall short, whether that be here at work, at home as a husband or dad. And instead of bringing that weakness to the Lord, I see that I fall short and say to myself, I’m just going to put a plan in place to be better next time. More discipline or more willpower to obtain the standard of the law which is perfection. But in that moment, what I ultimately do is rely on my own strength instead of running to the one who has already freed me. What Paul is saying here is that there's this beautiful freedom that is in Christ, despite ourselves. It is not by our own doing, but it’s done through the work of Christ.

There is this Eternal King who has all power because He has been raised from the dead. The resurrection is incredibly important. In our shortcomings and our failures, Jesus, the Eternal King, He had none. Nothing could hold Him back. Now, we see that He offers forgiveness and that we can be freed from our sin. It’s this beautiful calling of the Gospel. Ultimately it is the Gospel, that Jesus would take our junk and sin against a Holy God and would allow us to be free. And that leads us to the fourth and last part of this sermon, which is the call to action.

He uses another Old Testament verse to call these people to action.

4. Call to Action

Acts 13:40–41(ESV)

Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

“ ‘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.’ ”

Paul is saying here dont be the people that who don’t believe what God is doing. I am here to tell you about it. Ultimately what Paul is doing is calling these people to believe in this message that they can experience freedom. This call to action shouldn’t just be within the message, but it should create something called life- change and that’s what we see in the last couple of verses.

Life Change

Acts 13:42–52 ESV

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 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. The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” 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.

Quick note, when the Jewish people would “shake the dust off their feet,” this si something they would do when they left pagan towns. So these Jewish people are doing it to other Jewish people saying, “You are no longer a part of the covenant people if you don’t believe.” Which would be incredibly insulting.

Gospel produces life change

This can kind of go one of two directions

Anger

this is nothing new for the Christians, they had seen Jesus betrayed and crucified

Now these disciples were being conspired against

The preaching of God’s Word can produce a hatred of God and His people.

Jesus said, “They hated me first.”

Or belief, through this belief it created this life-change of

A Hunger for the Gospel

They understand the need for it.

A joy from the Holy Spirit

The Gospel created a joy within them.

Even as they are being persecuted, they are full of joy and assurance

They have just seen that God has always provided throughout all of history

They trust God in His sovereignty

We see that Paul was faithful in His preaching and now it was up to the Holy Spirit to do as God willed. So what does all of this mean for us?

What does mean for us?

The same thing it meant for them.

That Christ was raised from the dead. He defeated Satan's Sin and death. Therefore if we believe and trust in him we too can be forgiven of sin and set free from the sin which so easily entangles us.

For those of us who already believe in Christ and have been set free from our sin. My prayer for you is that the reality of the gospel would saturate your soul. My hope is that maybe if the gospel message has grown cold to you over the past couple weeks, months or years that you would realize that Christ is more than enough for us in the wondering of our hearts. I pray that the gospel would be your strength and hope in the midst of heartache and suffering, even as it was for Paul and his companions. Now remember were arent trying to force ourselves to feel this way, but that even if we are struggling in remembering these truths we have a gracious God, we can even bring our inability of believing to Him. His grace even abounds in those moments

Maybe you’ve lost a family member or you’re dealing with a situation that has caused you to not feel the joy that you used to. In those moments, bring those exact feelings to Him, because His grace abounds even in those moments.

For those of you who don't believe, the same warning that Paul gives to his hearer is the same warning for you. Please hear the good news of a gracious, loving God. Who died for you so that you may also be free and know the God of the universe personally.

Paul doesn't preach for preaching's sake. He preaches to glorify God. That through His Word the World may know about the Goodness of God and respond to Him in faith. My prayer is that we as a church would preach and respond for the same reason these people did because God is worthy.

Questions:

What part of your life are you trying to “fix” yourself? How can you bring that before the Lord?

What would it look like if we as a church lived as though we are truly free in Christ?

-Weakness in ourselves and strength in the gospel?

-authentic community

-Total dependence and love for Christ

Communion

Today we get a physical representation of the death and resurrection of Christ.

We come to communion, which helps us an opportunity to remember these truths and respond in repentance and praise for the Work of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 (ESV)

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Pray

Announcements/Benediction

Announcements

Benediction:

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

so that you will abound in hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We will see you next week.