Paul's Sermon — Acts 13

0:00 Heavenly father, lord, thank you for this time that we have to be gathered together to be under the teaching of your word. Lord, we pray that you would be exalted, you'd be glorified. Lord, that we would learn from you that we would stay true to to what your word says Lord what you desire to be communicated this morning. Lord we thank you for your son Lord Jesus the very reason that we're here the forgiveness of our sins Lord that you took the penalty of our sins on yourself. Lord we are just so blessed so amazed that you would call us sons and daughters that you would call us your own.

0:37 We we just want to live our lives in the light of of you in that way and we just pray that we would just give attention and avoid distractions and things like that during this time to devote our time to you. In Jesus name, Amen. Alright. So continuing our our journey and through the book of Acts, we're in Acts 13. I'll be covering verses 13 through 41 today which is Paul's sermon.

1:05 And, you know, a common thing that happens when someone misses a message, right, someone misses a message and and they're like, hey, can you... Like, what... How did the message go? Right? Someone spends forty five minutes delivering a message but then you're able to give a thirty second synopsis of what the person said, right?

1:24 You get all the information in thirty seconds and and we're not going to do that today. I am gonna do it here on the slide here. If we were to give you a thirty second synopsis and you're like, got to get going, this is this is a synopsis. Okay? Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Barnabas, good news on the move, but John Mark leaves them.

1:43 Good news on the move, that's a Hilton joke. They, you know, were involved in that. I thought mister Main was involved in that too, so I was gonna give him a shout out there. Paul preached the gospel to the to Jews and Gentiles with a heavy emphasis on the history of Israel leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He argues from scripture that Jesus Christ is Israel's savior and king whose death and resurrection offers forgiveness of sins to the whole world, but only taking effect on those that repent and trust in him.

2:17 And Paul ends in a warning of coming judgment for rejecting God's work through Jesus Christ. So going on, I have a a map up here. Once again, I'm a visual guy and I have a map up here of of Paul's missionary journey, the first missionary journey he went on where he started from Antioch, went through Cyprus. That's where we ended. We ended in Paphos with Brian's message last week and so here we are.

2:47 We have Saul, Barnabas, and Mark going from Pathos to Perga and we'll see what happens there. So let's let's start reading. We're gonna read just bit by bit and kind of just dissect as we can the the passage here. So starting in verse 13. Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga and Pamphylia and John or John Mark departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

3:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch and Pisidia 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. So the first thing we notice here, there's been a lot of talk about John Mark. Mister Boss talked about John Mark. Brian talked about John Mark as well.

3:41 And now I finally have the passage where John Mark leaves, right, that they've been talking, mentioning that a couple weeks. We don't know exactly the reason that he left. We can, you know, guess and things like that, I don't think there's any reason to. You know, one thing I thought about was that, you know, this missionary journey was about two years, that's a long time to be with people because, you know, Moriah and I, we've been married for over six months now and, you know, on the day of our six month anniversary, I'm like, we're going for a walk and I say, Moriah, we've been married for six months, which is not a long time compared to the Glovers and obviously, but we've been married for six months, that's crazy. And then she says, I know, I am so strong.

4:28 And I'm like, wow! I was like, yep, that's so true. If you want to give her a care package, she really loves these sour coated frozen fruits from Target. They're really good, they're low calorie, all that kind of stuff, very good. So if you want to give her a care package, take care of her that way for putting up with me for so long.

5:47 We see in Acts 15, there's some serious contention between Paul and Barnabas because of John Mark to the point that Paul and Barnabas parted ways in their missions. It says here in Acts 15 verse 36, we'll start reading, then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. This is after they returned from the first missionary journey. Now Barnabas was returned to take with them them John called Mark but Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who departed for them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to do the work. So we see Paul here is insisting, right is adamant about I don't want Mark there.

6:33 Mark he's not useful to me, he's not good right? But we see later on in scripture there's a restoration of trust and relationship in second Timothy chapter four. You can turn there real quick. Second Timothy four eleven, it's a very quick note but comforting all the more. It says, let's see, is it second Timothy four?

6:59 Yes, second Timothy four eleven. Sorry, was looking at verse 13. It says, only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you for he is useful to me for ministry. So here we see the first, there there's contention, there's Paul is saying I don't want Mark, he's not useful, he left the ministry but we see later on that that Paul says specifically about Mark about the same thing but the very opposite bring him to me, he's useful to me for ministry.

7:28 And what in terms of forgiveness with one another, I think it's very easy. We can forgive but there can still be parts of us that hold bitterness. Can still be parts of us that that have truly not reconciled and restored with people after they've wronged us in some way and so the encouragement is to forgive as God forgives. It says in Isaiah 4three 25, I, even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins. Obviously, God has the power to be able to not remember.

8:04 We can... We we forgive, but I think in terms of true forgiveness with one another is that yes it's a memory but it's not something that that causes anger or hurt or anything like that it's simply a memory that's when you know there's restoration and forgiveness in that And so yeah, once again it's super important to be quick to forgive, to squash bitterness before it rises and don't hold offenses to another person because the spirit of division is the opposite of what we're called to do in scripture. And we can see this in Mark's situation as well right? We have Paul's forgiveness in the future we see but Mark that that we can probably say that he failed. He you know he didn't complete that work and so something to think about for ourselves is that yes we are going to fail, we are going to mess up, but we can take comfort in the fact that and knowing that God also restores, God works and through this bad situation here we know that John John Mark later wrote the Gospel of Mark so what an awesome thing to just take comfort and identify it as not true that if you mess up that you can't be restored, can't come back to God in that way.

10:19 And after that, he gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years until Samuel the prophet and after they asked for a king and and after 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, found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart who will do all my will. From this man's seed according to the promise God has raised up for Israel a savior Jesus. 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 who do you think I am? I am not he but behold there comes one after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.

11:07 So I have up here for you guys a just kind of a timeline. Paul just briefly, very quickly brushed over a history of Israel and I think he was establishing the fact that he's like, I'm not some Joe Schmo, like I know what I'm doing. Alright, I know the history of Israel. Right? He was a former Pharisee persecuting Christians and things like that so and I just wanted to give a timeline right of events that happened in the bible and where you can find these references that Paul was referring to But a question I have is what is the common theme in these verses here?

11:44 Common theme that we can see is that God raised up, God delivered, God gave. God raised them up and delivered them out of Egypt. God delivered them and destroyed nations so that they can enter into the promised land. God gave them judges. He raised up for them David and finally, once again, he's leading, the goal is to lead to Jesus Christ because once again this is a Jewish and Gentile audience but he's mainly preaching to the Jewish people right now hence why he's going through this history, it's so important to connect the land, King David and the promises there and finally leading to Jesus, right?

12:26 Jesus is the culmination of all this for the people of Israel. And so in verse 23, what is the promise mentioned in verse 23 of this chapter? We can turn to second Samuel chapter seven for context in that because Paul mentions promises several times and doesn't exactly list them because he's under the assumption that these are, you know, Jewish people they they already know essentially what he's referring to. So in second Samuel second Samuel seven, if I can find it, there we go. Starting in verse 12, this is the prophet Nathan is is saying to David from the Lord this promise, this everlasting covenant that he's establishing here and it says, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, speaking to David, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom.

13:29 He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of of men and with the blows of the sons of men. That's speaking of king Solomon there. But my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I removed from before you and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.

13:53 Your throne shall be established forever. That's the promise that Paul was referring to there. The promise of David and his throne, his kingdom to endure forever. So Paul is referring to that there and then we see in verses twenty four and twenty five, he appeals to John the Baptist and I think this was an attempt right by the, you know, towards the Jewish people to gain favor because they looked at John the Baptist in a positive light that John the Baptist was a prophet, he was a good man and they respected him and so Paul is taking John the Baptist here saying John the Baptist pointed to him, John the Baptist approved of him, John the Baptist is the one who said I am not worthy to lose his sandals. So once again, right, just focusing on Jesus Christ this is an argument for Jesus and his title of being the son of God right, his identity Paul is defending here.

15:28 And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now when they have 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. So one thing that I that just catches my attention is is God's sovereignty that I think is is such a highlight in this passage that that God and honestly I still don't completely understand it, I think AW Tozer does a good job in addressing the relationship between man's free will and God's sovereignty. God's purposes that he has set before the foundation of the world in terms of redemption of Jesus Christ, in terms of his reign and his plan in that.

16:19 AW Tozer gives a good picture that it's like a ship, it's like a ship set sail you know down a river and the destination is already set but all the people on this ship have free will right? They're doing what they please on this ship but in the end but in the end that ship is arriving at that point and I just think it's so cool when we look at the power of God that in the rebellion of man and the attempts of Satan right in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that is how God brought about eternal redemption, that's how God brought about the forgiveness of sins is through his enemies. I mean you know no one you see TV shows where you know someone has everything planned out like they already know oh that person's gonna react that way and and you think oh like that person's a mastermind right and so we look at God and God is outside of time, he knows all things and so that he knew right what people would do when he brings about his redemption in that time. And so to think that these prophets, not these prophets but the rulers of Israel and all these things put him to death but in that they fulfilled God's righteousness and the fact that forgiveness of sins was brought about in that.

17:45 And we look at once again knowing God, knowing about God versus knowing God. This is I think so important, right? These rulers, these Jewish rulers, they had an incredible knowledge of the Old Testament, they had an incredible knowledge of prophecies but it was an intellectual knowledge, right? And that although they knew so much about the Bible, about the Old Testament, they knew so much you know about the prophets yet they missed it, they didn't really know God and I think that's a huge danger in society today in that people have a false assurance of salvation and that they know that Jesus Christ, you know, was a man that walked the earth, was they they even say, yeah, I think Jesus Jesus is God. I even think that, you know, yeah, Jesus did die on the cross.

18:39 All those things I believe to be true, but there's just there's an in... That's an intellectual, you know, intellectual confession. The Bible says that it is with your mouth that you confess and with your heart that you believe that God raised him from the dead and so I think it's so important just in our own practical application for us is that we don't give people false assurance of salvation that if they know something, they need to truly know it with their heart, their soul, their mind, right? And so it's just a huge warning to us to have this idea that is he your personal savior? Is he, he's not just, yes he is the savior of the world but is he your savior because you can still reject him.

19:28 This idea in the world today of I'm a pretty good person, I have good intentions, I think God's going let me into heaven is not not what what is true. That is only on the merit of Jesus Christ, is only in trusting in him as your Savior that salvation is given. And here we have once again going through some scripture here, I have pulled up the prophecy and the fulfillment. We're not going to turn to all those passages obviously, that's a lot of passages to look at but I just wanted that to for your personal reference that you know, the seven hundred to a thousand years of David's prophecies of Isaiah's prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And now verse 32, we'll read, so verse 30, 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 declare to you glad tidings that promise which was made to the fathers.

20:33 God has fulfilled this for us, their children, and that he raised up Jesus. So verse 32, once again, because this is a is a Jewish audience, Paul is addressing the promises made to the fathers. Genesis twelve one through three, we're not going to go through all these passages here but we see in scripture the promises Abraham's seed to become a great nation. From him all the the families of the earth will be blessed. Right?

21:02 God says to Abraham, through your seed talking about a one person Jesus Christ all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Galatians three eight mentions that that was actually a gospel proclamation to Abraham. Other promises as well that God had made to Abraham and reaffirmed to Isaac and Jacob is the inheritance of the land, a multitude of descendants, right, that cannot be numbered, all nations to be blessed and also, right, Israel to be God's people, a special relationship with God. And so Paul's proclamation here is that Jesus Christ is the one to whom these blessings were made and that he will bring about all these things for the remnant of Israel that trust in him. And now this I think has been the hardest portion of the sermon in terms of Paul's sermon is understanding what Paul is getting at with some of these verses so I hope I can accurately convey these things to you but we'll read in verse 33.

22:14 God has fulfilled this, right, talking about these promises, the promise which was made to the fathers, God has fulfilled this for us their children and that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm, you're 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 Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to see 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. I'm grateful that Paul you know gave commentary on that last verse there that that was nice but so Psalm two, you are my son today I begotten you.

24:00 Today I have begotten you. That is referring to the Messiah, the identity of Messiah, that the Messiah is the son of God, the Messiah is divine, and I think it's important here to not latch onto this word today, right, because you know then you can think oh so there was a point when Jesus wasn't the begotten Son of God, there was a point that this wasn't true that Jesus became begotten and so what we want to look at here is that this is a declaration. In Luke chapter one, you can turn there with me real quick, a couple of declarations, right? When the son of God entered into the world, we see in Luke one thirty two-thirty three, he says, this is the angel Gabriel speaking about Jesus, He will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom and of his kingdom there will be no end. So this declaration, he is the son, right, that was declared at birth.

25:14 It was declared after Jesus was baptized. This is my son in whom I am well pleased and now once again in defense of the resurrection that saying that the truth of the resurrection that Jesus Christ's resurrection is is a declaration and affirmation that he is the son of God. In verse 34, 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. So once again Paul is talking about David and the promises we already mentioned the promises that were made that a kingdom right his kingdom would endure forever that from his seed from the seed of David and we know Jesus we have two genealogies of Jesus one from Mary and one from Joseph that Jesus Christ is the legal heir to the throne through the lineage of King Solomon but also the literal seed of David through Mary's lineage that we have. And so, King David was promised that his throne would be established forever.

26:24 This was a well known thing that the Messiah was divine. We can look at Daniel chapter seven, right, one like son of man coming with the clouds of heaven and whose dominion will never end. And so the anointed one is to come from the seed of David and so let's turn to Isaiah 55 real quick to get some further information about this because I have to admit when I first read Acts 13, when I read those first two passages that Paul used I'm like what what is going on why would Paul use this in defense of the resurrection? Or well this right is in defense that that you know he would rise and die no more right to return no more to corruption. And so in Isaiah 55 we can start in verse three.

28:14 And so how do we know that why this verse is saying that he was raised from the dead no more to return corruption is because the sure mercies of David are reliant upon the continual life of the Messiah. We see all throughout the prophecies in scripture his reign will never end. His kingdom will not be is the one that will not be destroyed and so it was all reliant on this one person, Jesus Christ and so that's how we know that he that he will not die because God has promised us I will give you the sure mercies of David. Jesus Christ will no longer return to the grave. He is risen, immortal, and never to die again.

29:01 And then verse 35, this one is an easier one. Therefore he also says in another Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to see 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 has preached to you the forgiveness of sins.

29:30 So once again that Jesus Christ saw no corruption in the fact that he was raised again three days later and then going on to the main point, I already read verse 38 but we'll read it again because once again this is Paul right is establishing his argument of who Jesus is, the identity of Messiah defending the resurrection and that the Messiah right would die, rise again to receive his kingdom in the future as we know that Jesus Christ is returning, his return is imminent. And then in verse 38, 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 cannot be justified by the law of Moses. I think this is a very serious thing to hear for Jewish people in the synagogue here that this law that they're trying to follow and fulfill but they can't, that they will never be justified by it. And so going on in terms of what exactly is Paul meaning by the law, what we can't be justified in the law of Moses. The first thing, the blood of animals cannot take away sin.

30:53 Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10. That the purpose of the law was always to give knowledge of sin, to expose it, make it known to us so that all are guilty before God. Romans three twenty speaks of that but in Hebrews 10 verse one, for the law having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make those who approach perfect. For then for then would they not have ceased to be offered for the worshipers once purified would have would have no more consciousness of sins but in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. And in Hebrews chapter nine that the blood of animals purify the flesh but not the soul.

31:51 For if the blood of bulls and goats, this is verse 13 of chapter nine, for the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of Heifer sprinkling sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. So that once again that the law cannot cleanse the soul. The sacrifice of law cannot satisfy and this is something that I thought was very interesting is that sacrifice only for sins committed in ignorance. In Leviticus chapter four, God speaks of sacrifices that you could you know you could give and they were always for sins unintentionally committed and so that you know there was no sacrifice for an intentional sin such as that. But once again that the blood of Christ, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus has paid the price for sins unintentional and intentional which I think I find myself committing intentional sins so that's pretty comforting.

34:30 Jesus Christ talked about the the kingdom of heaven and the glories of it and also hell and the terribleness of it the separation from God both interchangeably right? It's a very much a fiftyfifty how much Jesus talked about those himself and how much we should as well. So verse 40 Beware therefore lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold you despisers, marvel and perish for I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe though one were to declare it to you. So turn with me to Habakkuk chapter one real quick to establish the context of this and what was happening at this time.

35:17 This is when the people of Babylon, the imminency of God raising up the army of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and take away his people captive. It says in verse five, look among the nations and watch be utterly astonished for I work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breath of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. Going back to Acts 13. We see that and we we see in scripture as well, Jeremiah the prophet, a story I like to highlight is Jeremiah the prophet wrote on a scroll the warnings to King Jehoiakim at the time I believe it was.

36:14 Yeah, King Jehoiakim and King Jehoiakim, right, started reading the scroll but then he just cast it into the fire. It's declared to him, he said I don't want to hear it. The people of Israel saying judgment's not coming, you know, and we're not going to be destroyed, that's not going to happen and God says no, you're not believing it even though I'm declaring it to you and that's something that we see in the world today that sharing the gospel with people that we tell them the message, we proclaim the love of God and also the justice, just God's just and they still don't believe and so this is a warning to everyone and what is the declaration today? Well, it's essentially the same message that Paul was giving two thousand years ago, the declaration that that Jesus Christ has died for sins. There is an offer of forgiveness in Jesus Christ but if you reject, if you don't believe in God, you don't turn to Jesus, if you don't repent of your sins and turn towards Jesus Christ, the wrath of God abides on you.

38:09 So there are, I believe, even people amongst the body at Westlake here that I would encourage you to examine your heart. You know you hear the gospel all the time, hear the gospel proclaimed and preached just like like the Jewish rulers who they know they even they know that they know the scripture, they know all about it but they have no relationship and that's what we want to be careful about in terms of people amongst our own body but also all around that that just because you know about Jesus doesn't mean you have a relationship with him. Believe in the son and you have life, if you do not believe on the son the wrath of God abides on him. In second Thessalonians one verses six through 10, since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed.

39:30 And so the timing is imminent. We don't know when Jesus is returning. We do know it's promised and we do, we should be truly begging and seeking those that we know and love who have not put their trust in Christ to be reconciled to God because judgment day is coming but there's hope in Christ Jesus. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank you for your word.

40:57 Lord we thank you and ask you to bless our time as we depart in Jesus name, Amen.