ACTS CHAPTER 13:38-52,
“Forgiveness Through Christ Is Proclaimed”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we saw how
that Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark had left the city of Paphos on the island of
Cyprus, and sailed north to Perga in Asia Minor, in the region known as present
day Turkey
1.1.1.
We saw that perhaps as the
journey was getting difficult or that John Mark had some unresolved issues in
his Christian walk that he abandoned the Paul and Barnabas and went back to
where they had originally set out from, Antioch on the Erontees
1.1.2.
Then, we observed that the
homeland of Barnabas was the island of Cyprus, however the stomping grounds of
Paul was this area of Galatia near Tarsus, his home town, and that as they were
in the city of Perga that they were in the plains of Tarsus.
1.1.3.
Then, we observed that Paul
and Barnabas made the treacherous 100 mile trek that went up 3,500 ft in
elevation to the city of
1.1.4.
Finally, we studied through
the first half of Paul’s first of three sermons recorded in the book of Acts,
and we observed that Paul kept to the simplicity of the gospel message, however
that in his preaching to this Jewish audience he tried to point out how that
Christ fulfilled the prophesies in the scripture for the Messiah
1.1.5.
In his sermon, Paul
recounted Israel’s history, and then as he was well into his introduction of
how that Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies concerning the Messiah,
we stopped at the point where Paul was bringing out the fact that Christ was
raised from the dead
1.1.5.1.I mentioned how that the resurrection of Christ is both the most
important Christian doctrine as well as a doctrine that is absolutely necessary
to be true if all else that the Bible teaches about the Messiah and the life of
Jesus are also true
1.2.
Today, we are going to
continue on in our study of this first sermon of the apostle Paul
1.3.
Before we go into the text
we are covering today, I want us to first of all go back to the context for
this preaching of the gospel by Paul
1.3.1.
In Acts 13:15, we saw that
in the synagogue service, after the reading of the Law and The Prophets that
the synagogue officials gave Paul the open door that he was looking for to
preach the gospel by saying, “Brethren, if you have any
word of exhortation for the people, say it.”
1.3.1.1.It has been interesting throughout my 27 year history in the church
since being saved, that many people have
come up to the church leaders in the churches I have attended and asked them
questions like, “What is your vision for the church?”, “Just who are you trying
to reach?”, or “What is your church charter?”
1.3.1.1.1.All of these types of questions are so foreign to the missionary spirit
that we see in this early church of the book of Acts, for we see that as Paul
and Barnabas were sent out by the Holy Spirit, that they went out and basically
just tried to reach any and every person who would listen to them share the
gospel message.
1.3.1.1.2.In a sense, for the church to limit itself to reaching just a certain
type of person, it is showing a certain type of discrimination or partiality,
which is a very wrong attitude to have
1.3.1.1.3.As we go out and share our faith in Christ, we notice that people that
we would never expect end up responding to our message, and they are often
people who we really wouldn’t normally relate to as people as far as having
things in common which we may share with them
1.3.1.1.4.I have heard churches and Church leaders discussing the fact that these
days they don’t really know how to reach the Generation-X kids of today, and
that you first have to learn how to relate to these kids before you can reach
them, however I think that the only thing that will ever reach anyone for
Christ is when we reach out to that person with the love of God
1.3.1.1.4.1.You see, the question for us as
Christians is not how well we can relate to people, but how much we love them
1.3.1.1.4.2.The people I have known who have been extremely effective and used
greatly by the Lord in winning people to Christ are people who are so filled
with Christ that they come up to people they either don’t know at all, or
barely, and they tell them, “God loves you”
1.3.1.2.We also notice, that Paul and Barnabas were prepared in heart and just
waiting for an opportunity to share the gospel, and then when this door came
open they walked right in
1.3.1.2.1.In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter wrote about how we are always to be ready
to share the gospel whenever an opportunity presents itself, “15 but
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with
gentleness and reverence”
1.3.1.2.1.1.What is key here in this verse is ‘heart preparation’, and I think that
many times we Christians may start out our day by having a quiet time or by
praying, and having begun well the day begins to go by and we begin to sort of
get farther and farther away from that fellowship with the Lord and a prayerful
attitude. What makes matters worse is
that we can sometimes even cop a worldly attitude during the day, and then when
that door opens that we could use to share the gospel, we have both of our feet
in our mouth and can’t say a word about Christ.
Finally, we end up avoiding sharing at all because we don’t want to be a
total hypocrite to everyone around us
1.3.1.2.1.1.1.I’ll share an example of how these doors open up sometimes for us and
that we need to be looking for these opportunities. A couple of weeks ago the woman who cuts my
hair was over to our house and she cut my hair and my son’s hair. About 6 months before this I had sent to her
in the mail a booklet called, “How You Can Be Sure You Are A Christian”, and
not too long after I had sent it she told me that she had sort of looked it
over. I had at that time told her about
my being a pastor and invited her to Bible study, and she said that she might
come, however she never has. Well, after
being around our family for about an hour that day, and having cut Steve’s and
my hair, she made the comment, “You know your house is so cheerful and
bright. Coming over here is the
highlight of my day”. Fortunately, I was
prepared at heart at that time to simply share with her, “The reason why we are
so cheerful and bright is because we are Christians, Christ is in our
hearts”. I didn’t feel led to share any
more than that at that moment in time, but I’ll bet that she will ponder that
day for awhile
1.3.1.2.1.2.Notice that there are two other attitudes that we must be careful to
have as witnesses for Christ mentioned here:
1.3.1.2.1.2.1.Gentleness
1.3.1.2.1.2.1.1.An abrasive or harsh condemning witness may be correct in their
assessment of sin in a person’s life, but they will usually push the person
away instead of draw them to the Savior
1.3.1.2.1.2.2.Reverence
1.3.1.2.1.2.2.1.Talking down to people and not giving them proper respect as we share
with them the gospel also pushes them away from Christ
1.3.1.2.1.3.I think for myself at my job that sometimes I tend to be concentrating
so much on being the best worker I can be that when an opportunity to share a
little bit with a person comes up that my mind is thinking just about what is
straight in front of me work-wise, for I have forgotten to be praying and being
prepared in heart to share
1.3.1.2.1.3.1.By the way, I don’t think that it is a good idea to go on and on
witnessing to a person on the company’s time, and that this is a bad witness,
however we can still share little things here and there in conversation as
situations and opportunities arise
1.3.1.2.2.In Eph. 6:15, we notice also that a part of the armor that we as
Christians are always to be wearing is one that covers our feet, feet that are
used to share the gospel, “15 and having shod your feet with the preparation
of the gospel of peace;”
2.
VS 13:38 - “38
“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of
sins is proclaimed to you,” - Paul
tells the Jews that forgiveness is proclaimed to them through Jesus
2.1.
Paul
proclaimed a fact that to the Jews in that day was a huge revelation: “through Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of
sins was available to everyone who would believe in Jesus for salvation”.
2.1.1.
To understand why this was a big revelation, we have to first consider
what it was like to live under the Law as a Jew.
2.1.1.1.In Hebrews
10:1-4, the
author (probably Paul) wrote about how living under the Law as a Jew never
brought forgiveness of sins, for there was a constant reminder in the
sacrifices of all of the sins of the past, “10:1 For the Law, since it has only
a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never
by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect
those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered,
because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had
consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins
year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take
away sins.”
2.1.1.1.1.The Old Testament sacrifices
were to point forward to the atonement of Christ upon the Cross of Calvary, and
so on this basis the penalty of sin was actually dealt with by God, however the
Jew never had the sense of having his sins forgiven or of having had his
conscience cleansed by the blood of Christ, as the author mentioned in Heb. 10:22 that the Christian has, “22 let
us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
2.1.1.1.2.In Hebrews
10:11, the
author points out revolutionary news for Jews in writing about how that the
priests were constantly having to offer new sacrifices for sins, but that the
sacrifice of Christ was a sacrifice that occurred once for all, “11 And
every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one
sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”
2.1.1.2.The person who is living
under any form of legalism is always “behind the eight ball” with God, so to
speak, that is, his relation to God is always one of being in debt to God, and
though he works himself bloody today to try to be justified before God because
of his works, there is always tomorrow, and the day after that, and so forth,
so his/her lifestyle is really just one of bondage.
2.1.1.2.1.The only time that the
legalist feels good about himself is when he is actually being self-righteous
and deceiving himself temporarily into thinking that he is better than what he
really is, however being a man or woman of flesh the self-righteous legalist
will only end up falling into sin tomorrow and then be back living under
condemnation before God.
2.1.1.3.This message of forgiveness
of sins through Christ was really a banner of freedom being waved to the Jews
then, however for them the thought of truly being forgiven by Christ must have
seemed to be just too good to be true.
2.1.1.4.In Galatians
2:24-25,
Paul wrote about how the Law is used in our lives to bring us to Christ for it
shows us that we cannot keep it and that we need to be justified by some other
means, the blood of Christ, “24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead
us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has
come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
2.1.1.5.There can only be
justification before God based upon the blood of Christ, for as Romans
3:19-20
shows us, there can be no justification based upon living according to the Law
because the Law is just used to show us our sins, “19 Now we know that whatever the Law
says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed,
and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the
Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the
knowledge of sin.”
2.1.1.5.1.The Law of God is really just a “big
high-resolution mirror”, as it is used by God to point out how we really look to God.
2.1.1.5.2.To any lost sinner, the gospel tells him that he can
be forgiven for every sin he has and will ever commit by trusting in Jesus
Christ as his Lord and Savior.
2.2.
In this message of Paul’s, he just brings out the main and plain truth
concerning Jesus having fulfilled Messianic prophesy and of His death and
resurrection and procuring forgiveness of sins.
Notice here also some of the things that Paul does not talk about:
2.2.1.
Physical matters really of any sort
2.2.2.
Roman domination
2.2.3.
Philosophy and intellectual ideas
2.2.4.
Evolution VS Creation
2.2.5.
Apologetics of any sort
2.2.5.1.Someone once said that the
gospel is to be preached first, and then if there is some hindrance that a
person has to coming to faith involving the intellect, apologetics should be
used
2.3.
Notice here
that Paul doesn’t preach to these Jews about their having sinned and broken
God’s Laws, and that in fact He doesn’t really even quote any of the
commandments in his preaching. You don’t
have to preach the Law to those who live under the Law, for they know first
hand about failure to keep the Law, they just need to know what to do to be
forgiven and set free from the Law.
2.4.
To those not
living under the Law, it is good to preach the Law and quote the commandments
so that the people whom you are sharing with will know in the first place why
it is that they need the Savior that you are proclaiming.
2.4.1.
So often
today, the church is preaching about Jesus as if He is some kind of enhancement
you can add to your life. Evangelists
preach that you need to come to faith in Christ to help you with this problem
or that problem in your life, and they say that your life is just not fulfilled
because you need Jesus in your life.
However the problem there is with this message is that a person has to
know that they need a Savior before they can be saved, and life enhancement
doesn’t tell them that. Ray Comfort has
been used in ministry to teach the church about the necessity of preaching the Law of God before sharing the
remedy for sins. He has a very good
illustration of why this is important called, “The Parachute Illustration”:
2.4.1.1.Suppose that you were to take an airline flight and as
you were getting on the flight the flight attendant were to hand you a
parachute and tell you to please put on this parachute as it will make a more
enjoyable flight for you. You would
surely think that you’d be crazy to put on that parachute for the flight since
it would make sitting in a chair uncomfortable, etc. However, if when the flight attendant handed
you the parachute she said, “Please put on this parachute because when this
plane ascends to an elevation of 10,000 ft both engines are going to fail and
the plane is going to crash dive, and unless you have this parachute on and
jump out immediately you will crash and die”.
Then, you’d be sure to put that parachute on and cinch it up tight
before the plane even started flying.
2.4.1.1.1.Each of us has broken God’s Laws. God gave us 10 laws, called the “Ten
Commandments”, and He did not call them the “Ten Suggestions”. Yet each of us has chosen because of our own
free will chosen to transgress against those commandments either in deed,
thought, or in heart. We know we can
break each of the commandments in thought or heart because:
2.4.1.1.1.1.Jesus taught us that to look upon a woman and lust
over her is to commit adultery with her in your heart.
2.4.1.1.1.2.Jesus taught that if we become angry with our brother
that we have also committed murder with him in our heart.
2.4.1.1.2.Here is the list of God’s 10 Commandments:
2.4.1.1.2.1.You shall
love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul and might - (Deut. 6:5).
Likewise, You shall love your
neighbor as you love yourself - (Lev. 19:18).
2.4.1.1.2.2.You shall
have no other gods before Me. You shall
not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on
the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
2.4.1.1.2.3.You shall
not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
2.4.1.1.2.4.Remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
2.4.1.1.2.5.Honor your
father and mother.
2.4.1.1.2.6.You shall
not murder.
2.4.1.1.2.7.You shall
not commit adultery.
2.4.1.1.2.8.You shall
not steal.
2.4.1.1.2.9.You shall
not bear false witness.
2.4.1.1.2.10.You shall
not covet.
2.4.2.
Thus, with a
proper understanding of God’s commandments, we can see how it is that we have
broken God’s Law, and now we are in a position to hear the message about how
they can receive a Savior and have our sins forgiven.
2.5.
One more
thing that I want to mention is just an exhortation to all of us to realize
that this whole culture of ‘political correctness’ that has invaded our
culture, and which is really hypocritical also since it the same rules don’t
apply to every group (a Christian fundamentalist will never be defended by
them, for instance), has been used by the Enemy for the purpose of getting us
Christians to be afraid to say anything that might offend anyone in any
way. Nowadays, I think we as Christians
are more worried about upsetting the applecart than we are about being faithful
to follow the Lord’s leading in our life and witness. We must not hold back sharing Christ with
people.
3.
VS 13:39 - “39
and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you
could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” - Paul tells the Jews that everyone who
believes in Jesus is freed from all of the things that the Law of Moses
couldn’t free you from
3.1.
Paul says in
this verse that not only can sins be forgiven, but Christ has also provided
that a believer be ‘justified (this translation says ‘freed’) from all
things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses’.
3.1.1.
When a person
lived under the law, there was always a memory of sins of the past since there
was a constant offering of sins to cover past sins. However, when a person becomes a Christian,
the Lord cleanses his conscience from all sin, and justifies him through his
faith, makes it “just as if he had never sinned”.
3.1.2.
Strong’s
Greek dictionary has the following entry for this word translated here ‘freed’
and in other translations ‘justified’:
1344 dikaioo { dik-ah-yo’-o}
from 1342; TDNT - 2:211,168; v
AV - justify 37, be freed 1, be righteous 1, justifier 1;
40
GK - 1467 { dikaiovw }
3.1.2.1.to render righteous or such he ought to be
3.1.2.2.to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as
he is and wishes himself to be considered
3.1.2.3.to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or
such as he ought to be
3.2.
We may
ourselves forgive someone for something that they have done to us, however we
will always remember what it is that they did to us. We may forgive a person, yet we may never
have the same relationship that we had with them before we forgave them. However, when God ‘justifies’ a person who
places their faith in Jesus Christ, God wipes the slate clean and removes their
sin as far from them as the east is from the west.
3.2.1.
God blots out
any memory of their sin and they are restored to a relationship with Him which
is just like it would have been if they had never sinned.
3.2.2.
When a person
commits a crime, though the person may serve the time for the crime or even
have the sentence commuted, that person will always have a record for
committing that crime. However, when a
person places his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, the record is erased and
there is no way that any trace of that sin will ever be found or brought up
again in God’s presence.
3.2.2.1.Paul wrote about how this works in Romans 5:1-2,
“1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by
faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of
God”.
3.3.
All of us
have broken all of God’s laws, and therefore we cannot be justified before God
based upon our own righteousness, or anything else, that is, except for the
“justification” which is imputed to us through the righteousness of Christ and
His work on the cross on our behalf.
3.3.1.
Paul wrote
about this in Rom. 3:19-20, “19 Now we know that whatever the Law
says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed,
and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works
of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes
the knowledge of sin”.
4.
VS 13:40-41 - “40
“Take heed therefore, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come
upon you: 41 ‘Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish; For I am accomplishing a work in your days, A work which you will never believe, though
someone should describe it to you.’”” -
Paul warns his listeners about scoffing at the promises of the Word of
God concerning the Messiah
4.1.
Paul warned
the audience to listen and take heed to the gospel message which he had spoken
lest they end up missing the promises of God and perishing for eternity.
4.2.
Whenever we
hear the gospel we have to make a decision.
We must decide to accept or to reject Jesus Christ.
4.2.1.
To not make a
decision is to make a decision to reject Him.
4.2.2.
To reject Him
will mean that we shall spend eternity separated from Him.
5.
VS 13:42-43 - “42
And as Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these
things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the meeting of the
synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue
in the grace of God.” - The people
begged to hear more of this message on the following Sabbath
5.1.
Paul and Barnabas
continued ministering to those who followed them out of the synagogue, and it
appears that some believed since they encouraged the people ‘to continue in the
grace of God’.
6.
VS 13:44-48 - “44
And the next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began
contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. 46 And Paul and
Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should
be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy
of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 “For thus the Lord
has commanded us, ‘I have placed You as
a light for the Gentiles, That You should bring salvation to the end of the
earth.’” 48 And when the Gentiles heard
this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as
had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was
being spread through the whole region.” -
The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear Paul and
Barnabas preach the gospel, however this incited the Jew’s jealousy
6.1.
It was the
case concerning Jesus, and it was always the case with the apostles and
disciples of the Lord, that persecution from the Jews occurred because the
Jewish leaders became jealous because of the popularity of the message.
6.1.1.
The Jewish
leaders saw their political power over the people eroding and therefore became
angry and jealous to the point of committing murder in many cases.
6.2.
Paul tells
the Jews that of necessity they had to go to the Jews first, for not only was
this a wise thing to do since the Jews already had a knowledge of the
scriptures and godly habits, it was also inspired by the Lord for them to do this. However now that Jews had had their chance to
hear the message and respond, he was now going to share the good news with the
Gentiles.
6.2.1.
The Jews had
been called to win the gentiles to the Lord, ‘a light for the Gentiles’,
however they kept rejecting that calling by hating the Gentiles, and now by
rejecting their own Messiah.
6.3.
On the other
hand, the Gentiles (described as ‘God fearers’ here) rejoiced that they could
receive the message and be saved through Christ.
6.3.1.
Remember
these were Gentiles who hadn’t yet converted to Judaism yet who typically
attended the Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath.
6.4.
The fruit of
this ministry is explained by Luke: ‘as many as had been appointed to eternal
life believed’.
6.4.1.
Our
responsibility is simply to share the message, what Christ has accomplished,
the response that the person makes is completely out of our hands. That is the person’s responsibility. That is ok too, for if we were just there to
plant a seed in their life, then God’s Word which cannot return void until it
accomplish what He called it to accomplish, will work in that person’s life
from that time forth.
7.
VS 13:49-51 - “50
But the Jews aroused the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the
city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them
out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest
against them and went to Iconium.” -
The Jews instigated a persecution and drove Paul and Barnabas out of
their district
7.1.
The supposed
‘devout women of prominence’ and ‘the leading men of the city’ were aroused by
the Jewish leaders to have Paul and Barnabas driven out of the city, and Paul
and Barnabas left in the manner that Jesus instructed His disciples to leave
when a city would not accept their message, ‘they shook off the dust of their
feet in protest against them’.
7.2.
Paul and
Barnabas next continued ministering in Iconium.
7.3.
We cannot
force the gospel down the throat of non-believers, and when they do not want to
know the truth after we have probed them and shared the truth, then we must
move on and leave them in God’s hands.
7.3.1.
The Lord will
perhaps send someone else to them, and the message that we have shared will
perhaps bear fruit later.
8.
VS 13:52 - “52
And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
- Luke records that the disciples were
‘continually’ filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit
8.1.
Luke records
this note about the ‘continual’ filling of joy and the Holy Spirit which the
disciples of the Lord had in that early church.
8.2.
If we will
walk in the Holy Spirit as the early church did, then we too will be filled
with the joy of the Lord.