From
Acts to Revelation
Part
35 – IN POSIDIAN
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
After their first missionary trip to
Antioch, Barnabas and Saul, who were called by the Holy Spirit to this journey
during prayer and fasting, continue the journey they were sent on by God.
They travel to a Synagogue in Antioch (NOT
the Antioch in Syria we read about last week.), where they listen to a reading
of the Law and Prophets, sitting among both Israelites, and God-Fearing
Gentiles alike.
After the reading, the leaders of the
Synagogue ask if Paul and Barnabas would like to share anything that may be
encouraging, and uplifting to the people.
Paul stands and speaks.
What we will hear this week, is the first
part of Paul's speech.
Paul will explain how God chose a fertile
foundation (the Israelites), to sew His seed (the Word), and how God pruned,
and raised up the people, so that they would produce God's First Fruit, the
Savior Jesus Christ.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 13:13-31 In Posidian in Another Antioch
13 From
Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where
John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to
Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and
sat down. 15 After
the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue
sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the
people, please speak.”
16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his
hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen
to me! 17 The
God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper
during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that
country; 18 for
about forty years he endured their conduct[a] in the
wilderness; 19 and
he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving 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. God 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 suppose I am? I am not
the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose
sandals I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Fellow 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 cross 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.
NOTE: It's really
interesting to see that this Synagogue was living God's word before the
Apostles arrived. Both Israelites AND God-Fearing Gentiles were in the
Synagogue on this Sabbath, hearing the reading of the Law and Prophets.
It
has always been God's will for all people to remain in a relationship with Him,
and since the fall of man, it has been His will to return all men to this
state.
I.
GOD CHOSE HIS FERTILE SOIL – ISRAELITES
a. Paul
states that God chose the Israelites ancestors
i.
Paul begins his message, just as Peter had
four years before.
ii.
Building on the already established Law and
Prophets the People just heard.
b. GOD
made them prosper in Egypt
i.
All good things come from the hand of God.
c. God led
them out of the country
i.
We see a pattern emerging...GOD chose,
made, led, He was the one in control then, and He is the one in control now.
d. GOD
endured their conduct for 40 years
i.
Is God currently enduring your conduct?
ii.
If you are not following Him as you should,
and you are still alive, then the answer is yes.
iii. As I
stated earlier, it is God's will for you to come back to Him...and He will
endure you as long as there is an opportunity for that to happen.
e. God
overthrew 7 nations to give the land of Canaan as an inheritance to His people
i.
God wanted His children to have the land of
Canaan as an inheritance, and since everything on earth belongs to Him, He can
give it to whomever He chooses, regardless of who is squatting there at the
time.
a.
We need to remember, that the USA is not
ours because we own it, but ours because God has ALLOWED it.
b.
If we continue to dishonor Him, remove Him
and his word, He may allow someone else to come and have it.
c.
If you do not think so, ask the American
Indians how that worked out for them.
All of this took about 450 years, after which;
II.
GOD BUILT THE PEOPLE UP – BLESSING AND
PRUNING
a. God
gave the people judges until Samuel the prophet
i.
Samuel was the last judge, and the first
man to stand in the office of prophet.
b. The
people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul
i.
He ruled for 40 years
c. After
removing Saul, God made David king
i.
David was meant to be the first king of
Israel, but the people jumped the gun, so in other words, they demanded a king
and got Saul.
ii.
Sometimes, when we demand, when we are
selfish and self-centered, only concerned with what we want, rather than what
God wants, He will give us what we want.
a.
And it may turn out bad. But, how is that
good? Don't all good things come from God's hand?
b.
YES! Sometimes we need to be reminded of
how good we have it when God is in control...and sometimes the only way for God
to get through to us, is let us and our will be in control for just long enough
to mess everything up.
c.
The people did not want to wait for God, so
they demanded and got Saul, and it was a disaster.
d. From
David's descendants, God brought the Savior Jesus Christ as He had promised.
i.
Prophecy said that Jesus would be from the
line of David...and although Joseph was only a surrogate father on earth, he
was from the line of David, however, so was Mary!
Before Jesus though;
III. GOD
PRODUCED HIS FIRST FRUIT – JESUS
a. John
preached repentance and baptism to all of Israel
b. John
prophesied about Jesus
IV. CHILDREN
OF ABRAHAM AND GOD-FEARING GENTILES
a. It is
TO US the message of salvation is sent
i.
Paul, without apologies, presents the plan
of salvation in the Synagogue to include the Gentiles.
b. Jerusalem
and rulers did not recognize Jesus (although they should have)
i.
Paul points out the willful ignorance,
which always brings about a willful blindness.
ii.
When we chose to be ignorant of God's word,
that is OUR WILL
iii.
When we are blinded because of our
ignorance, that too is OUR WILL
iv.
When we live OUR WILL, we must then accept
full responsibility for ALL the results and consequences of living our will as
opposed to God's.
v.
Just like when the people demanded a king,
and got Saul.
c. In
condemning Him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets read every Sabbath
d. After
they crucified Him, they buried Him in a tomb
V. GOD
RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD
i.
It is NOT Jesus' death on the cross that
validates all that He taught, but rather the Resurrection, which proves the
hand of God, and Jesus' teachings as the Word from God.
b. For 40
days Jesus was seen by those who traveled with Him to Galilee and Jerusalem
i.
Paul makes the case that there were too
many witnesses who saw Jesus after the resurrection for this to not be true.
ii.
No matter how much you want to believe
something, you could never get this many people to risk torture and death over
something that was not true, and they did not see with their own eyes!
c. They
are now His witnesses
CONCLUSION
Paul has now established who he is, and how he came to be in the
position he is in...
A witness of the resurrected Christ, with the word of the prophets
fulfilled in Christ Jesus, Paul, and other witnesses like him, have the
privilege, and honor, of sharing God's plan of salvation to all the Israelites,
and God-fearing Gentiles.
Some things to note about the scripture so far...
a) Are
you a God-fearing Gentile? Or, like so many today, are just going through the
motions of church?
b) Do
you understand that Jesus is the Christ and savior, and the fruition of God's
work throughout the generations to bring resolution to the broken relationship
between Himself and man?
c) Do
you see how Christ was, is and shall always be, the ONLY way to reconciliation
with God?
d) Have you accepted, submitted, confessed, repented, and now
serve the Lord Jesus Christ?
Or, like so many, have you willfully chosen to be ignorant of
God's word, thus, living in willful blindness?
e) Or perhaps, you have demanded your will in your life from God?
Perhaps, you are struggling in your life with the things you could not wait
for, such as the Israelites did with Saul?
It is never too late, to return
to God.
You can repent today of your
willful ignorance of God's word, or your willful demands to God for your life,
and be forgiven.
Yes, you may still have to live
with the consequences of your life's decisions, but once you confess, and
repent, you open the door once again for God to rule your life, and He can once
again begin a work in you and your life, that can come by no other means, but
His mighty hand!
Want to learn
more about Salvation and Getting Saved?
CLICK
HERE!
