ACTS CHAPTER 13:13-36, “Paul
And The Men Sail To
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we saw how
the first missionary journey came about by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
for it was only as the church was fasting and ministering to the Lord in
worship that the Holy Spirit spoke to them and told them to set apart Paul and
Barnabas for the work of missions
1.1.1.
We saw that really no man
had a voice in that decision for it was only the Lord’s moving that brought it
about
1.1.2.
We then saw that it was the
Holy Spirit that was leading them as they went out on that first journey
1.1.3.
So Paul, Barnabas, and John
Mark sailed from
1.1.4.
We finally saw how that
Sergius Paulus, who was the Roman proconsul for the island, had requested that
Paul and Barnabas come and preach to him the message of the gospel
1.1.4.1.Sergius Paulus however had a magician in employ named Simon BarJesus
(or Elymas), and this man was contradicting Paul and Barnabas and trying to
distract them from their preaching, and finally Paul was used by the Lord to
pronounce blindness upon this man, and the man had to be led by the hand
afterwards
1.1.4.1.1.Sergius Paulus believed in Christ for salvation after he saw what the
Lord had done and heard the truth of the gospel
1.2.
Well, today we are going to see
this same party of Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark sail from the island of Cyprus
north up to Asia Minor (present day Turkey), however due to hardships, after
arriving on the island and as they are about to head up to the city of Antioch
of Pisidia, John Mark abandons Paul and Barnabas on the mission field
1.2.1.
This incident is sort of
downplayed here in the book of Acts, however I’ll bet that this incident was
very difficult for Paul and Barnabas
1.2.2.
We will look at John Mark
and why he may have left the mission field, and we will see what we might be
able to learn from the details
1.2.3.
We will also look at the
first part of Paul’s gospel message that he preached in the synagogue in
2.
VS 13:13 - “13
Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in
Pamphylia; and John left them and returned to
2.1.
When we completed our last study Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark were in the
city of
2.2.
This missionary
journey evidently turned out to be very difficult for all, and here in this
verse we see that John Mark abandons Paul and Barnabas on the mission field in
the city of Perga on the southern tip of Asia Minor, just as they are ready to
begin the 100 mile treacherous trek that went up 3,500 ft. to the city of
Antioch in Pisidia. Along this path
there were also many bands of robbers who waited for those who would pass
by.
2.2.1.
It may
possibly be true also that hardship occurred during the trip sailing from
Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia, such as that recorded by Paul in the book of 2
Corinthians where he wrote that he had fallen into the hands of robbers.
2.2.2.
We do not
know specifically what it was that caused John Mark to desert Paul and Barnabas
on this journey, but we will speculate about that.
2.3.
In our lives as Christians, as we walk in fellowship with the Lord
allowing Him to teach us from His Word and as we are staying in fellowship with
His church, the Lord is constantly building us up in His grace. The grace of God, or “undeserved merit and
blessing”, that we learn about from God then teaches us about His gracious and
loving nature, and as we learn more about Him and His grace we begin to simply
entrust our lives into His care and trust that His promises are indeed true and
faithful. At first though, God’s grace
really just seems to us to be too good to be true, for we think about the fact
that the God who knows all that there is to know about us also loves us with a
love that is completely pure and perfect, and in everything that happens to us
God is looking out for our own good.
Early on in our walk we may go through some trials and difficulties
also, and then because of these times we can sometimes begin to wonder if God
really does care for us or not. But,
then we finally begin to realize that through these trials and suffering He is
merely disciplining us for our own good as a loving father. We are really suffering not because God is
angry at us because of our sin, but because He is forming godliness within our
hearts. When we realize this point
during these difficult times, then we can again entrust our lives to God. However, there are also times during our
growth as Christians when we can begin to take our eyes off of God and place it
on people, and what they are or are not doing, or we can place our eyes on our
circumstances, and then we begin to lose our trust in God’s protection and
guidance of us. When we do these things
we are really being set up for a fall and for walking in unbelief. On the mission field, or any place where a
person enters an occupational or a major ministry, this endeavor they have
entered becomes a place of the utmost of hardship physically, emotionally, and
spiritually, and when a person goes into one of these ministries he or she must
be very stable in his or her Christian walk and the disciplines of godliness,
if he or she is to survive and prosper.
Many times, when a person enters this type of ministry endeavor, the
true metal of their Christian walk is revealed, and suddenly it is discovered
that they were not nearly as spiritually mature in their faith as was thought,
and often they even have to leave the ministry.
Here, in our section of scripture we are looking at today, we see that
John Mark faced one of these types of testings on the mission field, and we see
that he failed this test. There are some
people who fall while in the ministry, via one manner or another, who never get
back involved in a significant ministry again because they don’t believe that
God could ever use them again after this major failure on their part. However, we see in the scripture that in John
Mark’s case, good does come out of this testing and his failure in it, for
later on John Mark writes a gospel (Mark), and then Paul in 2 Tim. 4:11 asks
Timothy that John Mark be sent to him for he is very useful to him for
service.
2.3.1.
The point to derive from this is that even if you fail God and blow it,
even though you may be in fulltime ministry, God can still use you again if you
are willing to truly repent and let Him rebuild your character and walk in
godliness.
2.4.
Let’s look at
what we know about this man John Mark:
2.4.1.
There is strong evidence that he knew Jesus personally, for in the 21st
chapter of Matthew, we read that in the last week of His life that Jesus went
to a place of refuge where He felt comfortable, the house of Mary, who was the
mother of John Mark
2.4.2.
As I mentioned last week John Mark was a relative of Barnabas.
2.4.3.
The second missionary journey in the book of Acts turns sour before it
begins because Barnabas wants to take John Mark along with them again, yet Paul
refuses, and Paul and Barnabas have a sharp disagreement about this, and
Barnabas ends up taking Mark and the two of them going off alone, while Paul
heads in another direction.
2.4.3.1.Barnabas was willing to work
in restoring John Mark and helping him in his walk, even willing to take him on
the mission field again as a place for his training in ministry, whereas Paul
only saw that John Mark’s leaving during the first journey was inexcusable and
that John Mark may not be a reliable man for another such journey.
2.4.4.
Later on,
Paul changed his opinion of John Mark however, and when Paul wrote 2 Timothy,
he asked that John Mark be brought to him since he was a great help to Paul.
2.4.5.
As I mentioned,
John Mark is the one who eventually wrote the gospel of Mark.
2.5.
Theologians
have spent many centuries debating the various reasons that John Mark could
have had for abandoning Paul and Barnabas on the mission field, speculating
that:
2.5.1.
He was fearful having experienced some dangers and trials on the trip.
2.5.2.
He was a mother’s boy and was home sick.
2.5.3.
His loyalty was to his relative Barnabas and when he came to see that
Paul was in charge instead of Barnabas, he was disappointed.
2.5.4.
Some have even speculated that he was a secret ‘Judaiser’ at heart.
2.5.5.
He had some character flaw.
2.6.
For whatever reason it was that John Mark left Paul and Barnabas at
Perga, it was not because the Lord was leading him in that direction. Rather, he did this while he was walking not
in faith but in unbelief and disobedience.
2.6.1.
We Christians sometimes make decisions without seeking God, or sometimes
even in rebellion we go against what the Lord has shown us to do, and these
times set us back in our Christian walk and growth until we acknowledge and
repent of them.
2.7.
In Prov. 25:19, the writer writes about how trusting in an unfaithful man is like
having a broken tooth or a foot that goes out of joint, “19Confidence
in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of
joint,” and
this abandonment by John Mark in such a vulnerable place just when they were
depending upon him must have been very difficult for Paul and Barnabas to deal
with.
2.7.1.
Very much had been invested in John Mark, and very much had been
entrusted him to complete, and then right in the midst of the battle field, so
to speak, John Mark high tailed it home.
2.7.2.
We have talked very much about how the Lord was building love in the
lives of this early church, love one for another, and we have seen so many
examples of how powerfully God was working in doing this, and we have talked
much about how the real fruit of our walk with God involves the being built up
and rooted in the love of Christ. Here
now we see that just after so much had been invested in John Mark, that just
when he is being depended upon, he does a very unloving thing and abandons Paul
and Barnabas during a difficult moment.
2.7.2.1.John Mark’s actions are very
similar to things that often occur in the church today, for people so often
tend to think only of themselves and their own interests and needs and not
about the interests of others and the interests of the church and the work that
Christ is building.
2.7.2.1.1.The emphasis so often in people’s
lives in the church is, ‘What am I going to get out of going to this
church?’ What they ought to be thinking
about is not themselves but others, others whose life they can touch, and,
about what they can do or give to further God’s kingdom.
2.7.2.1.2.In our American society we
have become so accustomed to a life of luxury where we have every convenience
and all of the tedium is taken out of our lives, that we in the church are
affected by this attitude and we tend not to think of our lives in Christ and
our expression in the church as being a ‘labor’ for the Lord, but this is what
the Lord has called us to, to ‘labor’ in serving the Lord:
2.7.2.1.2.1.Paul wrote to the
Corinthians in 1 Cor. 3:8 about how at the Bema Seat of Judgment for
Christians (the judgment which will be one not where we will give account of
our sins but one where Christians will be rewarded for their works), where each
of us will receive back from the Lord as we have labored, “8 Now he
who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward
according to his own labor.”
2.7.2.1.2.2.In Col. 1:29, Paul wrote about the fact
that he labored, “29 And for this purpose also I labor, striving
according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
2.7.2.1.2.3.In 2 Tim. 4:5, Paul wrote to Timothy
exhorting him to ‘endure hardship’ in the ministry, “5 But you, be sober in all things,
endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
2.7.2.1.2.4.Prayer, witnessing, studying
the scripture, teaching, leading in worship, etc., etc., any ministry that we
do for the Lord has tasks in it which are just menial and laborious, and thus
serving the Lord faithfully requires us to have the attitude of a servant who
is laying our life down for the Lord.
2.7.2.1.2.5.It is such an awesome
opportunity to be part of the ground breaking period of a new church plant such
as this one here in Green Bay, however as it is with any church, all of us who
are benefiting from this ministry need to also realize that God expects us to
have the attitude of a servant and roll up our sleeves, jump in, and help out
in the work of the church.
2.8.
We notice here that Paul and Barnabas leave Perga soon after landing
there, and pastor Ken Ortiz has mentioned that though Cyprus had been a very
affluent island with a good lifestyle, that the region of Galatia which Paul
and Barnabas now headed to was one of impoverishment and that there were in
particular many illnesses that people suffered from, and, likewise in Galatians
4:13-15
Paul writes that it was ‘because of illness’ that he had at first preached the
gospel to the people there in Galatia.
He writes that the people then were so empathetic of him because of his
illness that they could even have plucked out their eyes for him if they
could. So, these verses tells us that
perhaps Paul had a form of Malaria that was very common in that day and in that
area, a form of it which was particularly debilitating, and thus the reason
that Paul left Perga so quickly was because of illness, “13 but
you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to
you the first time; 14 and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition
you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as
Christ Jesus Himself. 15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I
bear you witness, that if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and
given them to me.”
2.8.1.
It could be that it was the effects of this illness that caused Paul to
pray three times for the Lord to remove the illness from him, and yet as Paul
wrote in 2 Cor. 12:7-10, the Lord chose not to heal him and told him instead power is perfected
in weakness and that His grace was sufficient for him, “7 And
because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to
keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning
this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He
has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2.8.2.
Ken Ortiz also points out that it appears that soon after Paul and
Barnabas left the area of Galatia that some Judaisers landed and began teaching
that a person who considered himself to be a Christian also had to keep the
Jewish Laws, feasts, sacrifices, circumcisions, etc., and it was to address
this doctrinal error that Paul later wrote the letter to the Galatians.
3.
VS 13:14-15 - “14
But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath
day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the
Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren,
if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”” - Paul’s group traveled on from Perga to
Pisidian Antioch
3.1.
Paul and
Barnabas again went to the Jewish synagogues first to preach the gospel. Paul got the opportunity, by God’s leading,
to share the gospel when the synagogue officials asked them if they had any
‘word of exhortation for the people’.
3.2.
Here in our
study today, we are going to look at the first part of the first of three
sermons which the apostle Paul preached in the book of Acts.
3.3.
As we analyze
this first sermon of Paul’s we notice some things:
3.3.1.
Paul preached
very similarly to Peter in his sermons which we already studied in the book of
Acts, in that he stayed really to sharing the simplicity of the gospel, of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
3.3.1.1.In 1 Cor. 1:16-24, 2:1-5, Paul wrote to the
Corinthians about how when he came and preached to them that he did not come
and preach to them in cleverness of speech or worldly wisdom, but he came and
shared the simple message of the cross, of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, “16
Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not
know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ
should not be made void. 18 For the word
of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,“I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the
scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom
of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom
did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the
message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs,
and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a
stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…2:1
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or
of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you
in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 And my message and my
preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men,
but on the power of God.”
3.3.2.
In Paul’s
sermons we also notice that he tended to tailor each sermon to his audience,
and that he tried as much as possible to be ‘all things to all men’ (1
Cor. 9:22) for the sake of winning them to Christ. We see for instance that:
3.3.2.1.When he preached to the Jews he tended to emphasize
that Jesus fulfilled the prophesies of their scripture.
3.3.2.2.When he preached to the Greeks he tended to appeal to
their intellect since they were so much into philosophy, and since they had so
many gods, he preached to them about an unknown God who was really the creator
and sustainer of all things.
4.
VS 13:16-18 - “16
And Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said, “Men of Israel, and
you who fear God, listen: 17 “The God
of this people Israel chose our fathers, and made the people great during their
stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. 18
“And for a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.”
- In the synagogue at Psidian Antioch,
Paul took an opportunity to exhort the people about salvation in Christ
4.1.
It is
interesting to note that this first recorded sermon of Paul’s seems to parallel
somewhat the sermon which Stephen the first martyr preached before being stoned
to death. Paul was present the day that
Stephen was martyred and this message of Stephen’s’ made a deep impression upon
him.
4.2.
As we read
this history of the Israelites, notice that in every incident Paul is bringing
out the sovereignty of God. He is
seeking to show them that it was the Lord who was always leading them and
working out His plan for them, and thus it was not men who were in control of
all things. He wants these Jews to see
that they were just part of God’s predestined plans, and that now what is
important is that they are simply obedient to the Lord and follow Him.
4.2.1.
William
Barclay writes that, “The coming of Jesus is the consummation of history”, and
we know that even the word ‘history’ means, ‘His story’, for history is really
the history of God working His plans out upon the earth and among men.
5.
VS 13:19-21 - “19
“And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed
their land as an inheritance—all of which took about four hundred and fifty
years. 20 “And after these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
21 “And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of
5.1.
Paul in this
beginning of his sermon simply tells the story in outline form of the major
components of the Israelites history.
6.
VS 13:22-23 - “22
“And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning
whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who
will do all My will.’ 23 “From the offspring of this man, according to promise,
God has brought to
6.1.
In these
verses, Paul reminds this Jewish audience that David fulfilled what the Lord
had intended to be the qualifications of a godly king over His people.
6.1.1.
Paul said
that God testified of David that he was ‘a man after My heart, who will do all
My will’, and therefore the Lord blessed David and gave him the promises
concerning always having one of his offspring upon the throne of
6.1.1.1.By the way, I wonder out of curiosity if the Lord
would say about you or me that we are ‘a man [ or woman ] after His heart, who
will do ALL His will’?
6.1.2.
The Lord also
told David that the Messiah would come through his line and that the Messiah
would reign as a king forever and ever.
6.2.
Paul explains
to these Jews that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises concerning the
future reigning kingly Messiah who would descend from David.
6.3.
We must
remember that even though David sinned in a horrible manner with Bathsheba and
her husband, still he was considered by God a man after His own heart for he
genuinely repented of his sins (see Psalm 51).
7.
VS 13:24-25 - “24
after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the
people of
7.1.
Paul tells
this Jewish audience that before the gospel concerning Jesus was proclaimed to
all people, John the Baptist first had to come and to preach ‘a baptism of
repentance to all the people of Israel’.
7.2.
Paul told
these Jewish people about the humility of John the Baptist, who when he
apprehended the holiness of Jesus, since He was the eternal Son of God come in
the flesh, that at the same time he realized his being totally unworthy of
anything that the Lord might do in His life.
7.2.1.
We Christians
worship Jesus because He alone is worthy of praise and worship. He has saved us and loved us unconditionally,
however it is not because we are worthy of any of His love for us. He says that He will never leave us or
forsake us, Heb. 13:5, however it is not because after becoming saved we have
somehow obtained enough worthiness to be saved.
7.3.
As we observe
the ministry of John the Baptist who preached repentence to the people in
preparing the way for the Messiah to come, we must realize that before a person
can come to faith in Christ, there must first be repentance on his part. He or she must repent of their sins.
7.3.1.
Repentance
means a ‘U-turn’.
7.3.1.1.We have been going in one direction in our life, and
now we are turning and going the way that the Lord wants us to go and doing the
things that He wants us to do.
7.3.1.2.We must make a decision that we shall not sin against
any of God’s law or will as He has revealed it to us through His word.
7.3.1.3.Then, a person must trust that Jesus Christ will come
into his life, forgive him of his sins, and give him eternal life.
7.3.1.4.That is the progression that results in salvation, and
when a person asks Christ into his life in this way he has received eternal
salvation and will then one day also spend eternity with God in heaven.
8.
VS 13:26 - “26
“Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us
the word of this salvation is sent out.” -
Paul challenges the people that to them the word of salvation through
Christ is now sent out
8.1.
Paul appeals
to his fellow Jewish brethren as well as the Jewish proselytes (‘and those
among you who fear God’), that he and his fellow apostles and disciples have
been sent out and given the task of spreading this gospel word of salvation.
9.
VS 13:27-28 - “27
“For those who live in
9.1.
As Peter told
the Jews, whenever in Acts it is recorded that he preached the gospel, Paul
proclaims that the Jewish rulers did not recognize the Messiah that God had
sent to them, and instead they crucified Him.
9.1.1.
Although the
Jews found no reason for putting Him to death, none the less, they asked Pilate
that He be executed.
9.1.1.1.In doing this, they were actually fulfilling what the
scriptures had prophesied would occur.
10.
VS 13:29-30 - “29
“And when they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took
Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. 30 “But God raised Him from the
dead;” - Paul tells the Jews of how
Jesus was raised from the dead by God
10.1.
Paul
proclaims to these Jewish people that after the Jewish leaders “had carried out
all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid
Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from
the dead”.
10.2.
The hope that
Paul and all Christians had was based upon this most essential element, Christ
had risen from the dead.
10.2.1.He was alive, living inside them, working in the midst
of the church and the world, and one day He would come and judge the world.
10.3.
Every other
founder of a major religion is dead and buried in a grave (at least in body),
however, Jesus Christ alone has risen from the dead and is still alive.
10.3.1.Those who receive Him as Lord and savior will spend
eternity with Him, and those who reject Him will spend eternity in hell.
10.4.
We Christians
must never lose sight of the fact that we have hope in that we serve a living
savior and Lord, and because we know that He is alive we also trust that He can
do all that we request of Him.
10.4.1.We are also persuaded because of this that when the
golden cord is severed to this body at death that our spirit shall leave and we
shall go to spend all of eternity with Him.
11.
VS 13:31-33 - “31
and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to
11.1.
Like the rest
of the apostles, Paul saw Jesus, however he did not see Him between the period
of His resurrection and ascension, as the other apostles. Paul had seen Jesus face to face when He
appeared to him upon the road to
11.1.1.In this way, Paul was a personal witness to the living
Christ who had risen from the dead.
11.2.
God fulfilled
all of His promises in the Old Testament scriptures that said that He would
raise up the Messiah from the dead.
11.2.1.Psalm 16:10 is quoted in the next couple of verses,
and this is one of the Old Testament scriptures that promise and prophesy that
the Messiah would raise from the dead.
12.
VS 13:34-36 - “34
“And as for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to
decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings
of David.’ 35 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘Thou wilt not allow
Thy Holy One to undergo decay.’ 36 “For David, after he had served the purpose
of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and
underwent decay;” - Paul quotes the
promise that God spoke to David saying that He would not allow the ‘Holy One’
(Jesus) to undergo decay after dying on the cross
12.1.1.Quoting from Psalm 16:10 that the Lord promised that
the Messiah would die but not ‘undergo decay’, and alluding to many other Old
Testament promises, Paul points out that concerning this verse in Psalm 16:10,
that it could not refer to David himself since he had long since died and been
buried, that therefore it must refer to another of David’s descendants.
12.1.2.Jesus was a direct descendent of David through His
mother, the virgin Mary, and as we find from Matthew, even Joseph, His step
father, was also a direct descendent of David, giving Jesus the kingly right to
the throne.
13.
When it comes to the fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead there are
several things that I’d like us to consider:
13.1.
The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is really the most important
doctrine in the Christian religion, for if we do not have a risen Christ we do
not have a Christ who has kept His promise to raise from the dead which He made
on several occasions, and we have a Savior who has no power to save.
13.1.1.Paul wrote in 1 Cor.
15:14-18, “14 and
if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is
vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we
witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact
the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has
been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you
are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ
have perished.”
13.1.2.All of the other teachings
about Christ also hinge upon His resurrection from the dead, for instance,
there is no point in teaching about Christ having been born immaculately
through the virgin Mary, for that teaching hinges upon the fact that Jesus is
God the Son from all eternity, and if Jesus did not raise from the dead, then
He cannot be God the Son, He could only be a prophet.
13.1.3.Everything in Jesus’ life
involved the miraculous, from His virgin birth to His resurrection from the
dead, therefore there should not be a reluctance to accept that Jesus raised
from the dead if you also believe in the rest of the things that Jesus did.
13.1.4.As you look at the accounts
at the end of the gospels, and the accounts written here in the book of Acts,
of what Jesus did after being raised, there is no way to account for any of
them if He is not raised from the dead.
13.1.5.Paul writes in 1 Cor.
15:1-8
about how that the resurrection of Christ is of primary importance in the
doctrines and life of the church, “15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel
which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by
which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless
you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and
that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that
He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain
until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to
all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He
appeared to me also.”