Acts 13:13-41

morning church open your Bibles to Acts chapter 13 our text today is Acts chapter 13 verses 13 through 41 Let us pray. Father would you open our hearts to your word this morning? Would you take your holy word and by your Holy Spirit would you mold us and shape us? Would you transform us and conform us By the renewing of our minds into the very image of your dear Son the Lord Jesus Christ father would you do this that your church would bear glorious witness to your glorious name in Our families And our places of work where we play where we shop in all of our life Would you do this father for your glory? It's in Jesus name. We pray amen Acts chapter 13 beginning in verse 13 Now in Paul and his party set sail from Paphos they came to Perga in Pamphlia and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem But when they departed from Perga they came to Antioch in Pasada and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down and After the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on Then Paul stood up Emotioning with his hand said Minnevis Riel you who fear God listen The God of the people the God of this people Israel chose our fathers and Exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it now for a time of about four forty years he put up with their ways in the wilderness And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan he distributed their land to them by allotment And after that he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the prophet and Afterward they asked for a king so 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 for them David as king to whom also he gave testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all my will and From this man's seed according to the promise God raised up for Israel a savior Jesus And after John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel and As John was finishing his course he said What do you think I am I am not he But behold there comes one after me the sandals who speak I am not worthy to lose Men and brethren sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God To you the word of this salvation has been sent For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers because they did not know him Nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath Have fulfilled them in condemning him and though they found no cause For death in him they asked Pilate that he should be put to death Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him They took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb But God raised him from the dead He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem Who are his witnesses to the people and we declared to you glad tidings That promise which was made to the fathers God has fulfilled this for us their children in that he has raised up Jesus As it is also written in the second song you are my son Today I have begotten you and that he raised him from the dead No more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus I will give you the sure Mercies of David Therefore he also says in another song You will not allow your holy one to seek corruption for David after he had served his own generation By the will of God Fell asleep was buried with his fathers and saw corruption But he whom God raised up saw no corruption Therefore let it be known to you brethren that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins And by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which You could not be justified by the law of Moses Beware therefore lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you Behold you despisers Marvel and parish for I work of work in your days a work which you will by no means believe Though one were to declare it to you. This is the word of the Lord In our text today Paul makes this statement and we declare to you glad tidings That promise which was made to the fathers God has fulfilled this for us their children In that he has raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second song You are my son today. I have begotten you Acts 13 32 through 33 This is the crux of Paul's Message it is also our Message today God made a promise to the fathers Sadly many of them did not believe his word and so they did not believe the promise In rejecting God's word they rejected the promise they rejected Christ the Messiah Men and fathers are still rejecting Him today Not just men and fathers We live in a nation That has in large part rejected the Lord Jesus though many profess faith in him Jesus said if you love me Keep my commandments The good news is you do not have to be like those unfaithful fathers This was the timeless message Paul was preaching in the synagogue at Antioch Pasidia Verse 13 now when Paul and his party set sail from Papus they came to Perga and Pamphlia and John departing from then Return to Jerusalem Paul and Barnabas were continuing their work their missionary work and they left the island of Cyprus and they sailed north To the mainland of Asia Minor and they landed in a city a port city called Perga In a region called Pamphlia It was at that time that John Mark Here it says John departed from them This John also called Mark the author of the gospel of Mark Was the cousin or the nephew of Barnabas And he departed and he returned to Jerusalem Luke tells us This departure of John Mark from Perga to return to Jerusalem seems to be the root of a future conflict That will arise between Paul and Barnabas. This is recorded for us in Acts chapter 15 verses 36 41 and the disagreement Seemed to stem from this departure of Mark or John Mark after they had arrived in the region of Pamphlia to continue their work Do you think about it besides the sea voyages They covered vast areas of ground and they covered it mainly if not exclusively by foot It would have involved various hardships and perhaps this Contributed to Mark not continuing with Paul and Barnabas But whatever the reason was he departed from them in verse 14 Luke writes but when they departed from Perga they came to Antioch in Pasidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down If the word Antioch or the city Antioch here is familiar it should be because Antioch in Syria is where Barnabas and Paul were sent from Now they have sailed across the sea Traveled by foot across an island and now sailed again and landed on the mainland of Asia Minor and they travel 100 miles north by foot to this city Antioch in Pasidia and when they got to this city Which was a Roman colony which means there were lots of different people that would come in and out of this city They Went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down This would have been Saturday the Jewish Sabbath not Sunday the Lord's day Paul and Barnabas were taking the gospel to the Jews of the diaspora and also to the Gentiles As we will see in these verses They are meeting the people where they are and they will And and where they will have the best chance of success in ministering the gospel at this point the synagogue was at place Verse 15 after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent sent to them saying Min and brethren if you have any word or exhortation for the people say on In the synagogue liturgy the service started with prayers and then there was always the reading of the law From the first five books of Moses Genesis Exodus Lviticus numbers and Deuteronomy And then you would have the reading from the prophets after that and then after the reading from the prophets you would have the sermon The law was divided into 53 sections So the first five books of the Bible were divided into 53 sections So that every week in the synagogue service on the Sabbath they would read a section of the law And on one of those services they would read two sections so that in a year's time They would read the entirety of the law the first five books of Moses The rulers of the synagogue were the principal men the elders And among them would have been one man who was called the ruler of the synagogue these rulers of the synagogue Luke tells us sent for Paul and Barnabas while they sat in the service inquiring if they had any word of exhortation This indicates that somehow these rulers of the synagogue knew that Paul and Barnabas were teachers Paul was a Pharisee Barnabas was a Levi of the priestly sect They knew that Paul and Barnabas were not just would be Jews who wandered into the service and they didn't say oh, let's see if these guys have something they want to share That's not how it worked They knew that they were teachers how they knew Luke doesn't tell us it could be where they sat It could have been a number of things word can may have gotten there before they got there Who knows but they invited them to speak and Paul stood up indicating that he would speak verse 16 Then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said Minabas Rael and you who fear God listen verse 16 presents our first clue About the makeup of the synagogue and Antioch Pesidia Once invited to speak Paul stood up and emotioned with his hands For the people to be quiet. That's what it means when he says emotion with his hands He was telling the people to quiet down So that they could hear his words and he began speaking with these words Minabas Rael and you who fear God Listen He addresses two groups of people in that opening He addresses the Minabas Rael and he addresses you who fear God those are two separate and distinct groups of people Minabas Rael addressed those who were Jews by birth descendants of Abraham Then he says you who fear God if you remember when we talked about Peter going to the house of Cornelius What was Cornelius in his house so called they were called Godfearers You who fear God Is Paul addressing the Godfearers who were Gentiles Who were proselytes of the Jewish faith they had adopted Jewish worship At the very Minimum if they did not become full circumcised Converts to Judaism But they were still Gentiles So in the synagogue there were Those Gentiles whether they were circumcised or not They adopted Jewish worship and this is who Paul is addressing here you who fear God To both groups who were together in the synagogue he exorpts them to listen to his words Now I'm going to go through the next 23 verses And you all may be wondering what we get out of here in time to have Father stay lunch Well the good news is the next 23 verses is basically Paul Giving us a condensed version of Israel's redemptive history He lays out the redemptive history of Israel from verse 17 to verse 39 culminating in God fulfilling his word and his promise with the coming of the Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ And Paul presents Christ crucified as well as Christ risen And then Christ Received by witnesses to his resurrection Until he was ascended to the Father And in his sermon Paul gives to those hearing the glad tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ He says to them those very words I have glad tidings. I have good news The The glad tidings was Paul presenting Christ the Savior and the only hope Not only of Israel, but of all men of all nations That was true then it is true today as you hear these words Our only hope in life and in death is in Jesus Christ Paul boldly gives them the gospel and in doing so he assumes nothing But delivers to them Christ crucified and Christ risen in glory He warns them to not be like their Fathers of old who long ago rejected God's word and brought suffering on the whole nation Thus he warns them to not be like their rulers in Jerusalem who rejected God's word And now had rejected God's Messiah And in rejecting Jesus Christ a far worse and a far a far worse and eternal judgment would fall upon them Paul is exhorting them to trust God's word and so trust in God's Messiah and God's Savior the Lord Jesus Paul hones in on the good news of our salvation which is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ And he is giving them the gospel of grace. We see this clear gospel message presented in verses 38 and 39 When Luke writes these words of the apostle Paul Therefore let it be known to you brethren that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins And by him Everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified By the law of Moses I want you to hear good news church The Jews believe they were justified by keeping the law of Moses Paul clearly points out here that that is not true declaring let it be known to you brethren that through Jesus Christ alone Is the forgiveness of sins and everyone who puts their trust in him is justified from all things which you could never Be justified by the law no animal sacrifice no good works nothing you can do Then or now Can justify you can save you can take away your sins Other than the grace of God given to you in Jesus Christ Paul will convey this truth again in his letter to the Romans where he writes now You know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped And all the world may become guilty before God Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight For by the law is the knowledge of sin Romans 319 and 20 in other words the law does not justify us The law exposes our sin and our Need for a savior it exposes our Falling short of God's demand for perfect holiness Just as he is holy And this is what Jesus fulfilled which is why you must have faith in Jesus because he is the only righteousness You can trust him Again in Romans 327 and 28 Paul writes where is boasting then it is excluded by what law of works No, but by the law of faith Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law Now that does not mean that men are now justified to live however they want and do whatever they want Remember I just quoted you the words of Jesus who said if you love me keep my commandments When Jesus commissioned his church to go into disciple the nations He said baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit We did that this morning teaching them to obey all that I have commanded So there is a grave responsibility To teach disciples all that Jesus has commanded So we don't just rest in faith and say well, I believe in Jesus. So I'm okay No, if you believe in Jesus If you really love Jesus then you will live a life that will honor him in every way Not perfectly because we're not perfect But when we fall down what does the scripture say Says we have an advocate with the Father Man is justified by faith in Jesus Christ the sinless Lamb of God who took our sin Who gave up his life on the cross now he counts us righteous through faith in him Jesus Christ came to do what the law could not do that is Justify us before the Father and Jesus did that by taking away our sin by his atoning sacrifice For us on the cross he fulfilled the law perfectly and when he became our perfect sacrifice on the cross becoming sin for us He did that that we might become the righteousness of God in him Paul presents clearly the gospel of Christ then in verse 40 and 41 he gives a clear warning to those hearing his words Listen to the words of the apostle Beware therefore lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you Behold you despisors Marvel and parish for I work a work in your days a work which you will by no Means believe though one word to declare it to you Paul's warning in verse 40 and 41 comes from two places in the Old Testament Isaiah pinned these words in Isaiah 28 14 when he wrote therefore hear the word of the Lord you scornful men who rule this people who are in Jerusalem This certainly fits with Paul's description of despisors For that describes perfectly those men in Jerusalem who called for the crucifixion of the Lord of glory They despised him and they scorned him to death in reference to verse 41 It clearly comes from Habakkuk verses chapter 1 verse 5 where the prophet writes look among the nations and watch Be utterly astounded for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe Though it were told you here Habakkuk is warning of coming judgment brought by God What Judah six century prior To Paul preaching in this synagogue and Antioch What Judah would by no means believe though it was told them came upon them with the Babylonian invasion and subsequent captivity Which eventually saw the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple Paul was warning those hearing to not be like their forefathers who rejected God's word and suffer God's judgment Yet in his grace God has given the Messiah And he has truly brought deliverance from the bondage of sin and death Yet Paul points out that the rulers in Jerusalem did not know their Messiah Nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath And What is being implied there by Paul is a question to his hearers You sit in the synagogue and you hear the law and you hear the prophets read every Saturday Do you know your Messiah do you know Jesus the Christ In condemning Jesus they actually fulfill the words of the prophets And Paul is warning all those hearing his voice to receive the Savior Jesus Christ Who the rulers in Jerusalem scornfully despised and rejected And like their fathers of old who would not believe God's warning of coming judgment The fathers of their own day would not believe that Jesus was the Christ the long awaited Messiah They looked for a Messiah, but they looked for a Messiah that matched their own vain imaginations Formed in their own minds They looked for a Messiah They thought would do things according to their Willful plan and their willful purposes it was clear Jesus would not So they rejected him Though they knew clearly who he proclaimed to be and who he was They rejected him Though it was told them they would not believe it God's Messiah came just as God's prophets and God's word had foretold yet they would not He was crucified buried and rose again for all to see yet they would not believe it Though they were told it they saw it with their own eyes yet They would not believe it You are hearing God's word Do you believe it? You have seen by faith so many things do you believe it If we are not careful we will be tempted to fall into the very same trap We formulate our own plans and our own purposes and we justify them as God's plans and God's purposes And we throw in a profession of faith in Jesus just for extra measure So that God will bless our plans and our purposes when in fact They do not honor him They do not match what his word instructs us In reality God has shown us through his word the truth we very often will not believe We are prone to wander Thank God for his grace that keeps us in the paths of righteousness for his name sake Thank God for his grace that will teach us hard lessons very often For being taught a hard lesson And going through hard times is much better That you learn the lesson and trust in God trust in his word trust in his promises given to you in Jesus Christ Then for you to go through this life thinking you're all right and come to the end of it and realize that you've been on the road to destruction The whole time Don't be that person This is part of the prayer that Jesus told us to pray the prayer we pray together each week when we pray lead us not Into temptation but deliver us from evil There is a reason Jesus instructs us to pray that because we are prone to wander into temptation and then justify it with every fiber of our being But what you must do is go to the word and Give all to the word submit all your plans your purposes your desires Submitted to the word of God and let the word of God judge it And let the word of God judge your plans your purposes The intense of your heart This is what the writer of Hebrews says the word is sharp as a two-edged sword piercing even to the division of bone and marrow opening Like a surgeon opening our hearts and exposing What is within It's not that God doesn't know what's in your heart God knows what's in your heart The problem is we lie to ourselves and we cover up what's in our heart What the word of God does is it cuts through all that we have covered All the cover-ups we've piled into our hearts all those cover-ups the word of God cuts through all of that and Exposes so that we can see the true intent of our heart And we can submit it to God surrender it to God and allow him To set in order in right order our hearts and our affections for him This is Why Jesus taught us to pray as he did God does not lead us into temptation God makes a way of escape for us from our temptation But often in our stubborn sinfulness we choose the temptation Instead of the way of escape and when we sin here's good news We have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous When you sin don't run away from God run to God run To Jesus not away from him Let us not be as those Fathers of old who rejected God's word for their own idolatrous lusts Brother Jesus who settled to do only the will of the Father in heaven He has given us his spirit and his word he has entrusted us with the authority of his name May we hear and may we see and may we live God's word May we not only proclaim his gospel with our words But may we be living epistles that show forth his glory and his gospel in all of life This is your life in Christ This is who you are in Christ This is what we do as we live and move and have our very being in him And we do it all to his glory in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen Let us prepare our hearts to come to the Lord's table Here's your charge church You've heard glad tidings declared to you that promise which was made to the fathers now fulfilled in us their children in the risen Jesus Christ God made a promise to fathers sadly many of them did not believe the promise and rejected God's word and so rejected the promise We see this throughout Israel's history right up to the coming of Messiah They had the prophets they had God's word they had the Messiah the word made flesh dwelling among them And in their scorn for him they nailed him to a cross of wood You fathers also have promises from God as do each and every one of us And they are already fulfilled in Jesus Christ But like the fathers of old and in our own way and in our own day You are called to believe God and his word He has not only given you the Messiah Jesus Christ, but he has given you his spirit Each day you are faced with choices May you be like the faithful fathers and like Jesus Christ and do the will of your father in heaven And reject the scorn of this world to embrace the love of God given to you in Jesus Christ May you teach your children to do the same by loving God loving your family and loving others just as you have been loved By him and may you do this as they watch your life And learn and they are watching and they are learning Whether you believe you're teaching them or not. So teach them well Amen All creatures here below And the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The Lord be with you. Lord bless you.

Acts 13 · chapter mention Acts 13:13–41 Acts 13 · chapter mention Acts 15:36