The Mission of God
The Life of Paul 3.0
Acts 13
by Eric Stillman 
November 19th, 2006

 

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We began two weeks ago looking at the Life of Paul in the book of Acts.  It seems that the overarching theme so far is salvation by grace, that through Jesus’ life and death something remarkable is offered, something free and undeserved that has the power to transform lives and transform our world.   Salvation, as well as the word “saved,” is one of those overused Christian words, like “blessed” or “sin,” that can sometimes lose its meaning.  But instead of defining it, I think that as we look at the life of Paul, we’re going to get a very clear understanding of what salvation by grace is all about. 

The first week we looked at the fact that you should not be here, but by God’s grace you are here, whether it saved you from a life headed in the wrong direction or just kept you from falling away from God.  The second week we proclaimed that you are welcome here, just as Paul, with his background as a persecutor of the church and potential murderer, had been welcomed by God and had to be welcomed by Ananias as a member of God’s church.  You should not be here, but you are welcome here.  And if this church is a collection of people who would not be here if it weren’t for God’s welcoming grace, then we need to create a culture of humility and honesty where we can be honest with each other about our sins and mistakes and welcome each other.  As LL Nash, a 19th century minister from North Carolina, once said, the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.

We’re picking up the story of Saul’s life this morning in Acts 13.  As the chapter begins, Saul is one of the teachers at the church in Antioch.  During worship the believers hear the Holy Spirit tell them to set apart Saul & Barnabas for the work to which He has called them.  So they take off to Salamis and proclaim the word of God in the synagogues.  From there, they move on to Paphos and then to Perga and then to Pisidian Antioch.  In the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, Paul is invited by the synagogue rulers to speak a word of encouragement, so he gets up and speaks to the Jews and tells them the story of election and salvation.  Before we read this, I need to say that this is going to be in many ways a big picture sermon this morning.  While some sermons deal with specific issues facing the life of the believer, like forgiveness or anger or money, this one is much more big picture, tracing the history of salvation and how Jesus was the consummation of all Israel had hoped for.  Big picture sermons are important, however, because they usually deal with big picture concepts like purpose, mission, vision; why we exist and what we are here on earth to do, why God has called us to follow Him.  So this may be a different sermon with less specific application, but hopefully a big picture understanding that will guide the everyday decisions you make,.

With that in mind, let’s read Acts 13:16-41:

¹⁶ Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!  ¹⁷ The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country,  ¹⁸ he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert,  ¹⁹ he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance.  ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. "After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.  ²¹ Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.  ²² After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'  ²³ "From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.  ²⁴ Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.  ²⁵ As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.'  ²⁶ "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.  ²⁷ The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.  ²⁸ Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.  ²⁹ When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.  ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead,  ³¹ and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.  ³² "We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers  ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'  ³⁴ The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.'  ³⁵ So it is stated elsewhere: "'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'  ³⁶ "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.  ³⁷ But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.  ³⁸ "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  ³⁹ Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.  ⁴⁰ Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:  ⁴¹ "'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'"