Preaching Jesus
Notes
Transcript
and taking food, he was strengthened.
For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
After today we’re taking a break in our series through Acts. Next week, Pastor Jack will be here, and then I’ll be starting a series using the Canons of Dort for the fall. Lord willing, we’ll return to Acts and Saul’s journey come January. We heard about his conversion last week, and today’s passage brings us to what appear to be the first years of him being a Christian.
Before we read, another little geography and history lesson. On the screen you can see references to times and places in today’s reading. It begins, “Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues…” He didn’t waste any time apparently. Jump to verses 23 and 24, the first threat on his life came “After many days had gone by…Day and night they [those wanting to kill him] kept close watch…” Verse 26, we change cities, “When he came to Jerusalem…” Verse 28 tells us this wasn’t a daytrip, “Saul stayed with [the apostles] and moved about freely in Jerusalem.” But he had to keep moving, verse 30, “When the brothers learned of [another attempt to kill Saul], they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace.
Why might this cover a few years? In Galatians 1, this is what Paul wrote to that church, starting in verse 15, “But when God…was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie. Later I went to Syria and Cilicia,” and chapter 2 begins, “Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas.”
Let’s try to bring these passages together. After Saul was “lowered…in a basket through an opening in the wall” in Acts 9:25, that’s most likely when he went to Arabia and later came back. When we read in Acts 9:26, that he came to Jerusalem, his old stomping grounds as a Pharisee, was likely three years after his conversion. He went there to meet the apostles. Assumedly this was the 15-day stay mentioned in Galatians 1, when he could only meet Peter and James, but he was able to move around the city until his life was in danger. Then they shipped him home, where he lived and ministered in Cilicia and northern Syria for 14 years or so.
Notice again what’s happening. The gospel had already spread south. Now it was starting to work east and north and west through those who God called to be his missionaries. Our message today is focusing on how Saul jumped right in and what preparation for preaching must involve.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, how does a person prepare to preach Jesus? As I look back on how I’ve gotten to this point as a pastor, two main times in my life stand out. When I was in high school, I willingly reported about youth trips in our church, and then I started occasionally being asked to lead parts of other services. When I did that, there were a few members, who I didn’t know very well but I trusted their wisdom, they asked if I had ever thought about seminary and ministry. The other time that sticks out was in camp ministry. I realized, or I think it’s appropriate to say the Spirit was revealing to me, that I enjoyed sharing with others what I was reading and understanding from God’s word. Those two important moments served as indicators to me that God was preparing me to preach.
But I want us to think today about preaching more broadly than just ministers, missionaries, and formal ministry positions. How does someone, ordained or not, get ready to speak to others about Jesus with a desire to persuade them to believe in him? Most Christians accept that the first command in the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples,” wasn’t just for the 11 remaining disciples or just the apostles, but rather, it’s for all of us. So, whether we’re talking to people who claim and are believers or those who don’t believe and who possibly have never heard the name of Jesus, what do we have to do and what are we prepared to say?
We have the two familiar passages instructing us. 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” It almost feels like we should have a set of passages or a sermon memorized or written down and tucked in our back pocket or in our purse to rattle off. Then Jesus’ words in Luke 12:11 and 12, “‘When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.’” That sounds like the complete opposite, don’t prepare or think about preparing at all.
There is some essential preparation, though. There are certain qualities or requirements, which must be in place before a person preaches. Where it all really begins is quite simple, but absolutely necessary. To be prepared, one must first of all believe in and have received Jesus. We’ve covered how major a change Saul had experienced. He went from being an enemy of Jesus and the church to now, four times in this passage, we hear about his preaching of Jesus. Verse 20, “At once he began to preach in the synagogues,” what was he preaching, “that Jesus is the Son of God.” In verse 22, we’re told the Jews were baffled because he was “proving that Jesus is the Christ.” Verse 27, Barnabas shared how Saul “had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus” and verse 28, in Jerusalem, he was “speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.”
To those who only held to the Jewish faith, Jesus was a blasphemous teacher, who may have been able to perform miracles—that was it. He was not received as the Christ or Messiah sent by God to redeem and save his chosen people. He was not divine or equal to God. His resurrection from the dead was doubted. His teachings were dismissed in favor of the Law and the teachings of their tradition. That’s what Saul had believed.
But since that encounter on the road and Ananias’ laying his hands on him, everything had changed. Now Saul believed in Jesus. He put his hope in him being the Son of God and the Christ. He believed that even though Jesus had died on the cross, he rose back to life. Not only that, but he did not die again; he ascended alive to heaven. Jesus was real and was who others had claimed him to be. That doesn’t mean Saul understood absolutely everything from the second those scales fell from his eyes, but he did trust in Jesus. He was now in agreement with those he had hunted.
Believing this, what did he tell others? He told them, “Jesus is the Son of God” and “the Christ.” The Apostle’s Creed developed out of the beliefs in the first centuries of the New Testament church. These two claims became essentials for Christians. “I believe in Jesus Christ, his [God’s] only begotten Son, our Lord.” For a summary of what that means, we turn to the Heidelberg Catechism questions and answers 31, 33, and 35. I invite you to join me on the answers. Why is he called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”? Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher…our only high priest…and our eternal king… Why is he called God’s “only begotten Son” when we also are God’s children? Because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God…who is and remains true and eternal God.
The intention of preaching—Christ-centered, gospel-filled preaching, is to turn people to their only hope, which must first be our hope. We’re talking about faith which rests in the one who lives and reigns in heaven, who is the Creator, not a creature, and whose grace is measureless. Why we may at times feel like evangelism is an impossible thing or why we wrestle with going up to people and talking to them about faith, and this includes me—I’m not condemning any of us who struggle with evangelism—why it’s difficult is Jesus and these things are so much bigger than what we see and can hold in this world.
What are we preparing to preach? An eternal God without any beginning is difficult to truly wrap our minds around. A person who already exists being born of a virgin mother, and then later dying and coming back to life and then ascending through the air to heaven is not even a rare occurrence—it never happens. True and complete forgiveness seems impossible. It feels too big of a task to try communicating our faith to other people and expect them to understand it.
Remember, though, if you’re a believer, and you’re trying to share about Jesus or share your faith—something happened in you at some distinct point or over time that caused you to grasp these things. You heard about Jesus and the Christian faith, and something caused you to hold on, to dig deeper, to eventually believe in him yourself. If that happened for you through the testimony of another person, then you can be used to help bring someone else to God with preaching.
It’s all about Jesus and it’s a daunting task. Where does that lead us? Trust God and learn about him! Let’s be clear, Saul didn’t go to the first Christian Theological Seminary before he started his preaching. He also didn’t go to Calvin or Western or Westminster California or Mid-America Reformed or Bethel or any other seminary. He didn’t go through what we expect pastors in the CRC to do in our ordination process. A bit more serious, he hadn’t been an eyewitness or someone who daily followed and sat at the feet of Jesus during his ministry.
Saul’s preparation comes mainly from three things. In his past, we know that he excelled in his knowledge and practice of Judaism as a Pharisee. That’s number one, number two is what we see in verse 19, he did spend some time with “the disciples in Damascus.” Third and most importantly is what God proclaimed with his conversion. We heard these last week, earlier in chapter 9, Jesus told him, “You will be told what you must do.” The Lord also said to Ananias, “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name…” Then, Ananias told Saul, “…The Lord—Jesus…has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” He was well-acquainted with Judaism, with what God had done in the past and what he promised to do, he was around other Christians, and he had been filled with the Holy Spirit.
As I was getting at earlier, Judaism without Jesus is not the same as Christianity. However, what Saul knew about God because of his faith, what he knew of Scripture—remember at that point, all that was written down was the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible—the Holy Spirit now revealed how Jesus fulfilled all he was hoping and longing for. Jesus provided for every need he had. Salvation and faith could not be provided by living the most upstanding life and thinking right things—that was not and is not enough. Salvation and faith require Jesus only.
We return to the Heidelberg Catechism once more, question and answer 60, How are you righteous before God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments, of never having kept any of them, and of still being inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without any merit of my own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, and as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.
A second essential part of a Christian being prepared to preach is for them to understand how they’ve been made righteous, what has salvation given them? If we’re still reliant on works, if we’re still chasing other potential hopes, even Jesus plus good behavior and good motives—our preaching won’t be wholly about the true Savior If we’re stuck on our past and unwilling to accept that Jesus can make us right; if Paul had looked at his years of terrorizing the church and decided his actions were too much for God’s grace to overcome, then we can’t preach Jesus. But if we trust what God offers to us and despite us, then we have a hope, which we can extend to others. Like Saul, we’re not alone in doing this. The Holy Spirit is present to all who ask for him.
We can go to school to learn more about the Bible and theology. We can be trained to work with people from other cultures and who speak other languages. We can learn about ministry and missions and the history of the church. All of that can be valuable in growing us and God preparing us for certain parts of our calling. But we must seek the basic foundation of his dying and rising to life for us—the great acronym for grace—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
That’s brings us to our last point. Even though Jesus is the truth, the gospel is real and the only way, we must be prepared for our faith and message to be contested. We’ve been hearing about this all through the early portion of Acts. The church had grown, the church enjoyed peace, people were astonished, amazed, and baffled. But the church, believers and leaders, were also jailed and flogged and killed. Their lives were threatened, and there was fear that spread because of hostility towards them. We must understand contention against faith comes not because it is false or wrong, but because the devil and sin seek to attack those who hold truth.
Why do we want to preach Jesus? We want people to put their hope in him, to be saved, and for the church of God and our own congregations to grow. But accepting the message being preached, putting faith in God, is not simple. It’s not like picking a favorite team, learning all about their players and rivalries and stadium, and being part of their fan club. It’s also not purely common sense—this is the best opportunity anyone could have for eternal life, so why not try it out? No, faith happens and is received only with God.
It’s not simple figures or steps. Why that’s important to grasp is we can’t assume that preaching, sharing this truth, will always meet a friendly welcome or an immediate acceptance. Preaching may in fact be rejected. It may lead to uncomfortable circumstances, even suffering. One of the most incredible things that accompanied Saul’s conversion and ministry is that he no longer controlled his life. I mentioned last time how he went and sought authorization to go to Damascus—he could go and do whatever he wanted. Now he was seeing God in charge and following him. God had declared his life would involve suffering. We see some peaceful times, but there was also great discomfort, fear, and living on the run. He was now the enemy that he had once hunted. He had to understand, and we must too, preachers and preaching draw enemies.
But take heart, brothers and sisters, God is in charge, and he has proclaimed that we’re on the winning side. Whatever difficultly, struggle, or persecution we might face for the cause of Christ is worth persevering through. There is an end and a glorious celebration guaranteed for us.
We close with the apostle Saul’s words to the Philippians, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me…I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body…Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” Be prepared, brothers and sisters, and let us always be prepared and willing to preach the good news of Jesus Christ, the word of life for all who believe. Amen.