Go & Make Disciples
Notes
Transcript
ME: Intro
ME: Intro
When going on a trip,
Generally, there are some necessities to bring.
For the week leading up to the 4th of July,
My wife Stephanie and I went down to a fireworks store in PA to sell fireworks like we always do.
Most of the day, I am on my feet taking big heavy fireworks out of cases,
Then moving them from storage containers outside into a staging area so we can just quickly grab them and restock when it is busy.
I also walk around and help explain the fireworks to customers and restock.
So, I am on my feet most of the day,
I get in like 20,000 steps.
Well, this year we got packed up and ready to go ahead of time.
So, we actually felt more prepared than usual when it was time to go.
When we got down there and got settled in, we worked the first day.
Then the next morning, I get up to get ready for the day.
When I go to put a comfortable pair of shoes on for the day,
I am digging all around my duffel bag and realize,
I did not pack a single pair of socks.
I brought a pair of sandals but I couldn’t wear those all day.
So, socks were definitely a necessity.
Fortunately, there was a wal mart like 15 minutes down the road,
And I was able to buy a pack of socks for the week.
This morning, we are looking at the first part of a two part journey Paul and Barnabas take in Acts 13-14.
For their journey, these guys have bigger concerns than socks!
Fortunately, the Holy Spirit is with them for their journey.
Two weeks ago,
We looked at the significance of the church in Antioch,
Who commissioned Saul and Barnabas who were called by the Holy Spirit.
This morning we pick up in Acts 13:4-41 with them Going and Making Disciples in many unreached areas.
Lord willing, next week we will look at part 2 of this journey in Acts 13:42 through ch. 14.
Slide
But our outline for this morning’s passage is:
Persistence of Christ’s Body (Acts 13:4-12)
Preparation for Christ’s Coming (Acts 13:13-25)
Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection (Acts 13:26-41)
Salvation through Jesus Christ makes disciples. So, our message must be salvation through Jesus Christ.
At this time, it was not common for churches to send out missionaries.
In fact, the church in Antioch is really the first to do it.
Before this,
Outside of a couple instances of God’s intervention like with Philip and Peter,
The gospel spread beyond Jerusalem primarily because Christians were fleeing persecution.
So, beginning in Antioch,
Churches would execute plans to take the gospel to the ends of the earth,
Through this strategy we call missions.
The missionary journeys in Acts are foundational to how we do missions.
Both in international contexts,
And locally here in Afton.
WE: Persistence of Christ’s Body (vs. 4-12)
WE: Persistence of Christ’s Body (vs. 4-12)
Slide
The first example of that is shown by the persistence of Christ’s Body in vs. 4-12.
Before telling us where the missionaries travel,
Acts makes it clear in vs. 4 that they are ultimately sent out by the Holy Spirit.
We make disciples through the Holy Spirit working through us.
Slide
After this reminder, the journey begins with Saul and Barnabas first going down to Seleucia,
The port city for Antioch.
Slide
From there,
They sailed to the island of Cyprus in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.
Cyprus was predominately Greek,
But there were enough Jews to merit the building of synagogues.
Vs. 5 says they arrived in Salamis,
On the eastern coast of Cyprus,
Which ch. 4 said, is where Barnabas is from.
Slide
Here is the first example of Saul’s repetitive missions strategy:
Preaching to the Jews in local synagogues first.
This strategy makes sense from a practical standpoint.
Because God has prepared the Jews by their belief in the Scriptures.
But also, Saul was convicted that this was God’s strategy.
As he wrote in Romans 1:16,
The Gospel is the power of salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
So, Saul and Barnabas implement this strategy with the assistance of John Mark.
Slide
They apparently do not spend much time in Salamis,
As vs. 6 says they make their way across the 90-mile island to the capital city of Paphos on the west coast,
Where the Roman proconsul is stationed.
Slide
Saul and Barnabas eventually meet him,
But first they encounter a magician,
Who is described as a false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
Which literally means Son of Yeshua,
Or the Son of the Savior.
Slide
Ber-Jesus worked for the proconsul,
Sergius Paulus.
In the verses that follow,
We see a contrast between these two men.
First, Sergius is open to God’s Word.
It says he summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
Perhaps he was hungry for more than the counsel Bar-Jesus was giving him.
Because Saul and Barnabas offer something radically different,
And Sergius Paulus is described as an intelligent man,
So, he is attracted to the teaching of Saul and Barnabas.
This is an encouraging reminder that often the people we do not expect,
May be the most open to the gospel.
So, we cannot assume to know who God make be preparing for the gospel.
Slide
But unlike Sergius, Bar-Jesus opposes the gospel.
Vs. 8 says Bar-Jesus is also known as Elymas the magician.
This guy was not pulling rabbits out of hats or doing card tricks,
As a Jewish false prophet,
He was more like a cult leader,
Here, he is doing his best to keep Sergius from believing the gospel.
Like a demon, he is trying to get people to wander from the faith.
Why would Elymas do this?
Likely because the gospel was a threat to his privileged position with the proconsul.
Slide
Which is connected to two of the most common reasons people oppose the gospel:
Pride and materialism.
Too often,
We people are either too proud to admit that we might be wrong.
Therefore, we don’t humble ourselves before the Lord,
Confess that we are a sinner,
And trust in someone other than ourselves.
Or, we don’t want to give up our materialistic lifestyle.
Therefore, we do not make the sacrifices that discipleship costs.
The gospel confronts these idols.
And when a person is not open to the gospel,
Like Elymas,
Greater opposition is to be expected.
Slide
Then, in vs. 9, his opposition is briefly interrupted with an incredible turning point,
That is so subtle, if you blink you would miss it.
It simply says, Saul, who was also called Paul.
Up to this point,
He has only been referred to as Saul.
Because Saul was his Jewish name.
So, Saul did not become Paul,
As nice as that sounds when we are trying to portray this incredible transformational story.
Saul was always Paul.
He went by Saul in Jewish contexts,
And went by Paul in Roman, or Gentile, contexts.
Because Paul was his Roman name.
So, Paul was most likely Paul before he was Saul,
Because he grew up in Tarsus before beginning his Jewish training.
After trusting in Christ back in ch. 9,
He continued to go by Saul.
It is not until now, years later in ch. 13, that he begins going by Paul.
He was Saul when he taught the church in Antioch,
He was Saul when the Holy Spirit called him to the mission field,
He was Saul when he was sent out as a missionary.
So, now, he begins to go by Paul because he is contextualizing to the Gentiles,
For the sake of the gospel.
He is not rejecting his Jewish background,
He is not trying to change his name to avoid persecution,
He is adapting to his context.
Likewise, we must be willing to sacrifice anything that is a stumbling block or a distraction from the gospel.
Slide
So, now Paul is filled with the Spirit, it says,
Goes on to remove another obstacle to the gospel in vs. 10, Elymas.
He condemns Elymas for trying to corrupt Sergius from following the straight paths of the Lord,
Calling Elymas the son of the devil instead of the son of the savior,
He also calls Elymas the enemy of all righteousness,
Full of all deceit and villainy.
Paul uses harsh language here for two reason:
First, Sergius’ soul is at stake.
Paul is deeply compassionate for Sergius to trust in Christ.
In Matthew 18, Jesus similarly taught that it would be better for a person to jump into the ocean with a huge stone tied around their neck,
Than to stand in the way of people coming to Him.
Eternal life is serious business.
Second reason Paul is harsh is because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is the Spirit speaking through Paul here.
So, Paul’s harshness is not ultimately coming from him,
It is coming from the Spirit.
Paul does not just go around being harsh to everyone,
Treating every unbeliever as if they were an obstacle.
So, we cannot either.
If you are to speak harshly like this to someone,
It must come from the Spirit’s leading.
In my entire Christian life,
I can only think of one example where I am confident the Spirit filled me to speak harshly like this.
Unfortunately, the many other times I have spoken harshly to someone,
The Spirit convicted me after the fact because I was in the wrong for speaking that way.
Now, do not misunderstand me,
I am not saying being bold is the same as being harsh.
There is a difference.
Sometimes being bold does include a harsh word,
But just because we are being harsh does not mean we are being bold.
Boldly proclaim the gospel,
And when the Spirit leads,
Speak harshly if necessary.
But do not just be harsh and pretend you are being bold.
It takes great sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading for us to do this.
Slide
Immediately after Paul is led by the Spirit,
God affirms that this was the Spirit’s leading by striking Elymas with blindness in vs. 11.
Which echoes Paul’s own conversion,
Where he was blinded after seeing the Lord,
And he had to be led by the hand.
This literal blindness also illustrates spiritual blindness.
Notice God only blinded him for a limited time,
Because He graciously gives Elymas the chance to repent and trust in Jesus.
We need to view opposition like Elymas from a spiritual perspective.
On one hand, we should expect spiritual warfare when making disciples.
But on the other hand,
There is a certain joy that comes from facing opposition.
Because in opposition, we have the opportunity to demonstrate the power of the gospel.
We can not do this in our own strength.
That is why when Jesus commissioned us to go and make disciples,
He said He is with us always, even to the end of the age.
So, do not assume opposition means you are in the wrong.
Because sometimes it actually indicates you are right where you are supposed to be.
That is the case with Paul and Barnabas.
They have found themselves in spiritual battle with this cult leader,
But they trusted wholeheartedly in God,
Who has the power to overcome cult leaders,
And anything else the Enemy tries to use against us.
We can be confident in the power of God’s presence to overcome opposition as we make disciples.
Slide
Look at how this story concludes in vs. 12.
While Elymas was darkened in judgment.
The light of salvation burst onto Sergius.
This Roman leader who had no Jewish background becomes a member of the family of God,
Because he believed!
But notice why it says he believed.
Because he was astonished,
But not by Elymas going blind,
He was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
It was God’s Word that astonished him!
It was God’s Word that he trusted in!
That is why we rely on God’s Word!
So, as we seek to go and make disciples,
Let this story encourage you.
When we proclaim the gospel message,
Some people will repent and turn to Christ.
Because God is actively working in this world.
He is bringing all sorts of people to faith in Christ through His witnesses.
GOD: Preparation for Christ’s Coming (vs. 13-25)
GOD: Preparation for Christ’s Coming (vs. 13-25)
Slide
Next, in vs. 13-25, Paul teaches about God’s Preparation for Christ’s Coming.
In vs. 13, they leave the island of Cyprus and sail to the city of Perga in the poor province of Pamphylia,
Which is modern day Turkey.
Slide
They don’t seem to stay in Perga long,
But a significant detail occurs here.
John Mark leaves to go back to his mother’s home in Jerusalem,
The home where all the disciples were gathered to pray when Peter escaped prison in ch. 12.
It does not say why John Mark left here.
Perhaps he was scared to continue on the journey?
Or maybe he was homesick?
Missed his mom?
Maybe he was sick?
Or maybe he did not agree with making Gentile disciples?
At the end of the day, we really don’t know.
Whatever the reason, it does not sit well with Paul.
Because on the next missionary trip in ch. 15,
Barnabas suggests taking John again,
But Paul refuses,
Accusing John of abandoning them,
Which leads to Paul and Barnabas splitting ways.
Lord willing, when we get to that split,
We will come back to this moment and look at it in greater detail.
Slide
After John leaves here,
Paul and Barnabas continue north in vs. 14 to Pisidian Antioch.
This is a different Antioch from the one they were at earlier.
Slide
This Pisidian Antioch was a Roman colony,
But it was still home to many Jews.
So, Paul continued his pattern mentioned earlier,
By going to synagogue on the Sabbath.
Now the word synagogue literally means assembly.
Historians are not sure if synagogues formed more organically,
Where Jews began meeting to worship together,
And slowly it developed into a more formal, structured assembly.
Or if synagogues began to intentionally happen during the Babylonian captivity,
So, exiles could gather together to reflect temple worship.
Either way, the result is the same.
As Jews dispersed,
They established synagogues to worship,
To be a hub of Jewish community,
And to help preserve their Jewish identity.
Historians have also sparingly pieced together key parts of their worship services.
First, they would gather to worship during the same hours as the temple on the Sabbath.
There would be this desk in the center,
With all the people gathered around the outside of the desk.
Their were special chairs called chief seats where the leaders would sit.
They would begin with the creed from Deut. 6:4.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Then together, they would pray eighteen liturgical prayers known as the eighteen blessings.
Then the leader of the synagogue would go to the center table to read from the law,
And to read from the prophets,
In the sight of all the people.
Then he would invite the adult Jewish males to share exposition and application.
Then synagogue would conclude with a benediction.
So, this is what Paul and Barnabas are attending,
Slide
Then, in vs. 15 they are invited to speak a word of exposition and application after the readings.
This transitions into one of the four major sermons in Acts.
The first two came from Peter in chs. 2 and 3,
And the fourth will come from Paul in ch. 17,
Where he preaches on the validity of Christ to a crowd of skeptical Greeks.
Which is very different from his sermon here,
Where he connects Jesus to the God of Israel to a synagogue full of Jews.
In both sermons, Paul preaches the same gospel,
But he is flexible in his approach.
Slide
We must do the same when we share the gospel.
We can not speak the same way to a grown adult whose parents brought them to church growing up but does not believe,
As we would to someone from another country who knows nothing about the Bible
The gospel itself does not change,
But we are flexible with the way we share it.
This is the idea of contextualization:
Making the gospel known in a way that is appropriate to a given context.
This demands faithfulness to the gospel,
And an understanding of a person’s context.
Slide
Paul understands his Jewish audiences belief in the OT.
So, he exalts Jesus from the OT,
Showing them how Jesus is their Savior, their Messiah.
Their participation in synagogue would assume some level of hope that their Messiah would come.
So, understanding this context,
Paul stands up in vs. 16 to begin faithfully preaching the gospel.
This sermon is really the first demonstration of how gifted a teacher Paul truly is.
He briefly recounts Israel’s history,
Right up to Jesus,
Who He says is the fulfillment of God’s promise,
Concluding with the resurrection as proof that Jesus is the Messiah.
Slide
So, beginning in vs. 17,
Paul takes just a few sentences to summarize hundreds of years of God’s grace to Israel.
As we go through these next few verses,
Notice how Paul shows that God is the constant initiator with His people.
First, with the patriarchs,
He said God chose them.
Then, God made the people great in numbers when they were in Egypt.
God took seventy some people and made them thousands within just a few generations.
Next, God led them out of Egypt.
Slide
Vs. 18, God put up with them in the wilderness.
Vs. 19, God destroyed the seven nation,
Then God gave them the promised land.
Slide
And all this that God did for them,
Vs. 20 says, took about 450 years.
About 400 years in Egypt,
40 years in the wilderness,
And the period of conquest of the Promised Land.
But God continues.
After the 450 years,
God gave them judges.
Until God gave them Samuel the prophet.
Slide
Then in vs. 21-22,
God gave them Saul,
Which the people asked for,
But he was a terrible king.
Slide
So, lastly, God removed Saul,
And God raised up David.
Israel’s history is not random.
It was God’s preparation for Christ’s Coming.
God always accomplishes His purposes throughout history.
But there is also an important contrast between Saul and David here.
In Paul’s entire summary,
God is the initiator,
Except in the case of Saul,
Where the people initiate the request for a king.
Why did the people want a king?
Because they were looking around at all the other nations who had a king,
And they thought God was no longer good enough for them,
They wanted a king like everyone else!
So, God gave them what they asked for,
King Saul,
Who basically loses his mind.
But eventually God removed Saul and made David king.
Now, in his summary, Paul could have just jumped right to David,
But he includes how Saul became king first.
Because he is showing how the people’s request for a human king,
Was a rejection of God as their King.
They wanted to be like the other godless nations,
This is idolatry,
And they asked God to help them with their idolatry.
But God is sovereign over history.
So, all the way back in Deut. 17,
God lists out the qualities an ideal king would have:
Devotion to God,
Devotion to God’s law,
And devotion to God’s will.
After removing Saul,
God raised up the only person in the OT who comes close to this description,
King David.
That is Paul’s lesson,
It is not just that God raised up David,
But God’s evaluation of David is that he is a man after God’s own heart,
Who will do all God’s will.
But even David was not a perfect king.
It only took one generation after his death for Israel to split.
So, even though God’s evaluation of David was true,
He was not the total fulfillment of the prophesied ideal king,
This was pushed forward to someone else.
Slide
That someone else, Paul teaches in vs. 23,
Was a descendant of David’s.
So, Paul jumps straight to this promised descendant, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the promised Messiah,
He says.
Jesus is the ideal King.
He was not just making random comments about the OT,
Then forcibly connecting them to Jesus.
No, his sermon shows the stream of the OT that flows to Jesus as the emphasis and fulfillment of the entire Bible.
Slide
But before Jesus began His public ministry,
He had a forerunner, John the Baptist.
Paul also mentions John’s vital role in redemptive history.
John proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
He prepared the way for Jesus,
As Isaiah prophesied.
So, Paul is teaching how John was the last messianic prophet,
Slide
As he was completing his mission, he asked,
“Who do you think I am?
I am not the Messiah!
No, the One coming after me is Him!
And I am not even worthy to untie His sandals!”
John’s prophetic role was huge!
After 400 years since the last word from God in the OT
Suddenly, this guy who is a lot like the prophet Elijah,
Shows up and begins proclaiming the coming of the Lord,
And offering a baptism of repentance in preparation of the great work God was about to do.
He was being a prophet,
Announcing that the ultimate time of fulfilment was at hand.
Paul was teaching how John was the conclusion of God’s prophets who would predict the coming Messiah.
Because immediately after him,
Jesus came.
Paul began his sermon with a brief sketch of the preparation for Christ’s coming,
Boldly teaching how Jesus is the climax of history.
All of OT history culminates in the arrival of David’s greater offspring,
Jesus Christ,
The Savior of the world.
YOU: Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection (vs. 26-41)
YOU: Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection (vs. 26-41)
Slide
From there,
Paul transition in vs. 26-41 to a Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection.
After giving Jewish history,
He addresses the Jews directly in vs. 26,
Saying the word of salvation has been sent to them.
Remember, these are Jews who have dispersed from Jerusalem.
Slide
In vs. 27, Paul explains how the Jews in Jerusalem rejected Jesus,
Saying that they did not understand the prophets they read every week on Sabbath.
So, what Paul is saying,
Is that salvation is coming to these dispersed Jews,,
Because the Jews in Jerusalem fulfilled the prophets by rejecting Jesus!
They have hope because the Jews in Jerusalem condemned their only hope.
What an incredible example of God’s sovereignty!
Slide
Paul goes on in vs. 28,
Explaining how the Jews in Jerusalem had no grounds to put Jesus to death,
Yet, they asked Pilate to crucify Him anyway!
Slide
And they thought they were right.
The OT law says cursed are all who are hanged on a tree.
So, Jesus crucifixion was proof that he was cursed.
And after He died,
They took Him off the tree and buried Him in a tomb.
Slide
But God sovereignly prophesied all these things,
And the Jews in Jerusalem unknowingly carried it all out.
Then, by raising Jesus from the dead,
God confirmed that Jesus is the Messiah.
His death on the cross was sufficient.
His Words were true!
And there are many eye-witnesses who confirmed His resurrection.
Slide
This is the message of hope Paul is bringing,
That the gospel is the fulfillment of God’s promises to their ancestors.
And God fulfilled His plan through the evil deeds of others.
Slide
I love the way Paul teaches!
He goes on to quote several texts to show specific ways Jesus fulfills prophecies.
Something he does throughout his NT letters.
In vs. 33, he quotes Psalm 2:7,
Interpreting this Psalm in light of Christ’s resurrection.
He is showing how when God said "You are my Son, today I have begotten you,” back in Psalm 2,
It was a prophecy of God raising Jesus from the dead.
Because it connects Jesus as God’s Son to His resurrection.
In other words, by raising Christ from the dead,
He is declaring that Jesus is the firstborn of the dead.
Slide
Paul teaches this elsewhere in the Bible,
He says in Romans 1:4 that Jesus Christ our Lord...
Romans 1:4 (ESV)
was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.
So, Jesus has always been the eternal and divine Son of God.
Before His death and resurrection,
The Father declared that Jesus is His beloved Son with whom He is well pleased.
John 3:16 says Jesus is God’s only begotten Son.
So, Paul is not teaching that the resurrection is what made Jesus the begotten Son.
Rather, Psalm 2:7 prophesied that the resurrection is what confirms what has always been true about Him.
Jesus was always the Son,
When He rose, He completed His messianic work,
Proving that He is the Son.
Now, through His resurrection,
We can be adopted as God’s children.
We get to share in Christ’s sonship.
Slide
As Heb. 3:14 says,
For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
This sharing means we are partakers with Christ,
We are His companions,
We share new life with Him and through Him.
Paul once again expands this teaching in Rom. 8:29,
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Christ is the firstborn among many other children of God who would be adopted through Him,
To share a new life in Him,
Where we are His family.
Slide
As God’s only begotten Son,
Jesus is therefore King.
Remember, He is the royal son of David.
But His resurrection shows that He could not be contained by death,
As Paul says in vs. 34.
His resurrection is an eternal resurrection,
Therefore, He will never decay.
He is not subject to death!
He destroyed death!
Slide
The other two OT references Paul mentions are Isaiah 55:3 and Psalm 16:10.
All three of his references assert God’s faithfulness in relation to His promise to David,
An everlasting promise of eternal life,
Which was fulfilled through Jesus.
For example,
Jesus died, was buried, but did not decay,
Rather, He rose from the grave.
Unlike David who died in 1 Kings 2:10, was buried, and decayed.
Paul’s point is that Jesus is the Hero of God’s Word,
And His crucifixion and resurrection prove it!
WE: Conc.
WE: Conc.
Slide
Paul concludes his sermon with application in vs. 38-41.
Therefore, we will do the same.
Paul answers the question,
What do Christ’s death and resurrection mean for us?
These are not just historical facts,
This is the good news of the gospel,
It is the means of salvation,
Forgiveness of sins is through Jesus Christ.
By the resurrected Jesus all who trust in Him are free.
This is justification,
Being declared righteous in God’s sight.
And Paul emphasizes how this could not happen through the Law of Moses.
The law does not save,
It condemns.
So, the law points us sinners to our only hope,
Jesus Christ,
Who fulfilled the law.
In terms of salvation,
The chief role of the law is to point us to Christ.
Because the law cannot change a person’s heart.
It confronts the heart,
It reveals the depth of human sin,
But it does not transform the heart.
So, in one sense,
God gave a law that He knew we could not keep.
But one of the chief reasons He gave it,
Is because it reveals our hopelessness apart from Him,
Which points us to Christ.
Paul teaches this idea all over the NT.
Slide
He plainly states in Galatians 3:24,
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
Slide
And one chapter earlier in Galatians 2:16,
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Faith in Jesus Christ is what declares us righteous.
Therefore, through Jesus, we are granted forgiveness of sins.
Slide
As Paul explains in Eph. 1:7,
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
So, what does all this mean?
Most simply,
Salvation is forgiveness of sins,
Which is through trusting in Jesus Christ.
There are many other implications we could explore on this subject.
But Paul does not go into all that here.
His focus is that we sin,
We reject God,
We reject Christ,
We cannot perfectly obey God.
And the only remedy for this,
The only way to be forgiven of our sins is through Jesus.
He is the only One Who frees us from the curse of sin.
We cannot make ourselves righteous through the law.
It is a gift we receive by grace through faith in Christ alone.
When we try, we will experience one of two possible outcomes.
Pride because we think we are better at obeying the law than everyone else.
Or despair because no matter how hard we try,
We keep falling short.
God has provided us the solution.
Trust in Christ.
He took the consequences for our sin on the cross,
He sets us free from our condemnation.
He says,
“You are forgiven! You are free!”
Anyone and everyone can receive this gift through faith in Jesus Christ.
And when we do,
It is as if we have always perfectly obeyed God.
God invites us to rest all our guilt, all our sin on Jesus,
And rest in the grace of Jesus.
But if we don’t,
We have to accept the consequences of our sin.
Slide
Paul ends his sermon with a warning for all who would scoff at and reject the gospel,
Citing Habakkuk 1:5.
Paul did not talk about the Jews in Jerusalem rejecting Jesus just to explain what happened to Jesus.
It was also an object lesson.
Jesus came to the Jews in Jerusalem in fulfillment of God’s promises.
Now, Paul is coming to these Jews to preach the gospel to them.
His message is Jesus’ message.
So, if we reject this message,
We are just like the Jews in Jerusalem who rejected Jesus.
Therefore, like Habakkuk says,
Don’t be a scoffer who misses the work God is doing right in front of us.
Don’t just set Jesus’ message aside for a future time.
The truth of Christ is a matter of eternal life or eternal death.
Scoffing at this reveals a hard heart.
Slide
This is an ominous way for Paul to end his sermon.
After being a witness to Christ,
He ends with a reference to a prophecy about scoffers who would reject God’s work through His witnesses,
Almost as a rhetorical way of asking if they are the scoffers God prophesied about.
But just before this was Paul’s application:
That salvation is through Jesus Christ.
That is what makes disciples.
Therefore, since salvation through Jesus Christ makes disciples.
Our message must be salvation through Jesus Christ.
Pray.