SERMON TITLE: The Message of Life
TEXT: Acts 13:13-52 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 10/3-4/20
You can watch the sermon here.
It’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us in person at our North Main or Bowling Green campuses — or are joining us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too.
And we’re continuing our series in the book of Acts this weekend. We’ve been discovering a variety of barriers that the early Christians had to overcome in order for them to fulfill the mission that Jesus had given his disciples. What was the mission? Well on the day of his ascension — the day he went to Heaven — Jesus, “ordered them (his followers) not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4b-5 ESV)
And then he said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:8-9 ESV)
So their mission — our mission — is to be Jesus’ witnesses. We’re to take the gospel — the Good News — of what Jesus accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection and proclaim it to the whole world. And though that may seem overwhelming, we can’t forget that Jesus promised his disciples — including us — Jesus promised that we’d be given the power needed to accomplish our mission of taking the news about him to the whole world. And the power in us is God himself — the Holy Spirit — who lives in and empowers all who believe in Christ.
And today we’re going to talk about this message that we’re to proclaim. The gospel. A message of life to those who hear it and respond in faith.
And we’ve got a long passage today, so let’s turn to it. If you have your Bible please turn with me to Acts chapter 13. We’ll be looking at verses 13-52. We’ll be finishing Acts chapter 13 today.
And while you’re finding Acts chapter 13, I don’t know about you — but I don’t watch a lot of TV — especially late night TV. But every now and then a segment from Jimmy Kimmel’s show catches my attention on YouTube. It’s the segment called “Pedestrian Question.” It’s where they hit the streets and ask random people a question. Now — let me say — not all of the questions are appropriate — it’s late night TV afterall. But some of the pedestrian questions are questions like, “Do you know more Avengers or Presidents?” And “Can you name a country on a map?” And in one segment, they hold up a picture of Vice President Mike Pence and ask people on the street to name the man in the picture.
So what’s the point of the segment? Well the point for Jimmy Kimmel is to get laughs because — apparently — we Americans are pretty dumb. But the reason why I bring this up is because of how some of the questions show our ignorance of our own history and even our ignorance of current events — like who’s the Vice President of the United States. One person — in the “can you name a country on a map” segment — pointed to the United States and said “Texas.” These are our fellow Americans people. It’s not good.
But what’s worse is to think of what a segment might look like if the people being asked were Christians and the questions being asked were about the Bible. We may laugh at the person who thinks that Texas is a country or who can name more Avengers than US Presidents, but I hope we wouldn’t laugh if we — Christians — showed an equal amount of ignorance when it comes to knowing God’s Word. And I bring this up because we Christians — we claim to be people of God’s Word. But do we really know what it says? Or do we just get upset if someone puts a Bible on the ground or writes a few notes in it?
You see, Christians are to be people of God’s Word, but often we try to get by doing the bare minimum. We’ll show up to church — or tune in online. We’ll pray occasionally. We’ll listen to podcasts. And do our best to be kind — at least to some people. We’ll vote for God’s man in the upcoming election. But why bother spending time reading and studying the Bible?
Well here’s why — and here’s what I hope this sermon will make clear. The gospel shows us that knowing our Bibles well — knowing the history that’s found in this book which contains God’s story — and in studying who God is and who we are as revealed in this book — you see — knowing what’s in the Bible is the foundation upon which we deepen our understanding of who God is, what we’ve been called to, and strengthen our relationship with him. Now — you may wonder — “Are there other things we’re to do to deepen our understanding of who God is, what we’ve been called to, and strengthen our relationship with him?” For sure. But all of those things must be built on a foundation. And that foundation is us being a people of the book — people who know God’s Word.
And we see an example of what it means to know God’s Word — to know God’s story — in our verses. And — in our text — we find two reasons why knowing God’s Word matters. Let’s begin by looking at an example of what it means to know God’s Word and then we’ll look at why knowing God’s Word matters.
Here’s an example of what it means to know God’s Word — his story. We’re in Acts chapter 13 — beginning in verse 13.
Now Paul and his companions (notice that Paul’s listed first now and everyone else is just called “his companions” — even Barnabas. This is a shift in Acts where Paul has risen to a prominent role, which he’ll have in the rest of the book. Now Paul and his companions...) set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, (John is also called Mark — you know the gospel of Mark? Well this is the guy who will write it. And Mark’s departure is going to cause a split between Paul and Barnabas in the future — in Acts 15 — because Paul will call this move by Mark a desertion. Why’d Mark leave? Well we’re not really sure. But a seemingly insignificant statement here — “and John left them” — will have huge implications later on in Acts.)
14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. (This is a different Antioch than the other city we’ve seen in Acts. And — in Galatians — Paul tells us one of the reasons for the stop — here — in this Antioch — that we don’t find in Acts. Paul was sick and his illness caused them to stop in this city located in the area known as Galatia.) And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” (So here’s the opportunity. “Paul, do you have a word of encouragement for us?” And look at what Paul uses as the basis for his word of encouragement to the people. He uses God’s story.)
16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand 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 uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of 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 appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ 34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. (Acts 13:13-37 ESV)
Paul took advantage of the moment. When he was offered the floor to encourage the people — he used God’s story — the history of God at work in the world — to be the foundation upon which he offered his listener’s encouragement. But there’s no way he did this all on the fly — Paul knew his Bible. And — I think it’s obvious — he knew it well. So well that in a somewhat spontaneous moment — he was able to share the story of God because he knew the Bible.
Now maybe this is all new to you — the importance of reading and understanding the Bible so you know God’s story. But a central part of the Christian faith is being a Bible person. For in this book, we learn the truth about God, we learn his story — which includes the stories of those who’ve come before us in the faith — and we learn what it means to follow Jesus and how we’re to live.
But — because this may be new to you — or old news to you but something you haven’t been putting into practice — let me bring this to a personal level for all of us. How important is your story to you? Meaning, do you feel known and loved if someone doesn’t care about your story — if they don’t care about what’s shaped you? If I were to approach you as a person who only has a present — as someone who has no past story — would I really know you? Of course not. Yet we live in a culture — don’t we — that devalues a person’s story. Thus people may know you, but they know 2020 you — or the last 5 years you — or maybe even the last 20 years you — but they don’t know you.
Sometimes this is because we choose not to share our story out of fear of being rejected or judged. Sometimes we don’t share our story because we’re running from our past because there’s pain there that we’d rather not think about. But our past has shaped us — and is shaping us today — even when we don’t talk about it.
And if people don’t really know us without knowing our story — why would we expect to know God if we don’t take time to know his story as revealed to us in the Bible?
Now you may be wondering, “Well where in the world am I supposed to begin in understanding and knowing God’s story? I mean, Josh, have you seen the Bible? It’s pretty thick. Where do I begin?”
Well here are a few options for you if you’re wanting to know and understand God’s story as revealed to us in the Bible.
My first suggestion would be to sign up for one of our equip classes. Particularly the Knox Seminary classes that we’ve started offering as of this fall. We’re hoping to develop a partnership with Knox so that you — people who are part of Gateway — can get a good, solid, conservative, evangelical and Reformed biblical education. And if you don’t know what some of those words means, that’s OK. Sign up for the classes anyway.
Second, I’ve mentioned the Bible Project in sermons and on the podcast a few times. You can go to their website or find their videos on YouTube. The Bible project gives an overview for every book in the Bible. And some of the books have multiple videos. There are also videos on different concepts such as holiness and love and sin. These videos are a great place to begin understanding God’s story.
Third, another great video series is called What’s in the Bible? You can find it on RightNow Media, which you can get a subscription to for free through our website or app. Yes, it’s a series made for kids. But adults, listen up. I learn something every time I watch one of the videos and I preach the Bible for a living. Watch them with your kids and show them that you value understanding God’s Word and that you want them to know it as well. And if you don’t have kids, grab some popcorn and watch them yourself.
The YouVersion Bible app — which is free — has a ton of different Bible reading plans. Let me encourage you, though, to avoid the short topical plans — like a three day plan on love or forgiveness — and instead choose a plan that will take you through books of the Bible. One of my favorite ways to read the Bible is chronologically — where you read the Bible along a historical timeline. You can find reading plans like this in the YouVersion Bible app.
And for those who want to go deeper in your Bible study, Logos Bible software is a great resource you might want to consider. Now — so you’re not shocked if you’re about to Google it — it’s not cheap. But for those of you who are wanting to invest in your understanding of God’s Word the cost will be worth it.
And finally, if I was going to recommend one book to read. I’d recommend How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth. I’ve recommended this book many times before — How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Fee and Stuart — is a great book to help you understand how to read and study the Bible.
Now if you’re thinking, “Yeah. I need to start doing this. So I’m gonna do it — I’m gonna take my Bible reading and study seriously.” Be warned, for it’s been said, “The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.” (Søren Kierkegaard)
Knowing God’s story comes with an obligation to act accordingly — as Paul did — when he had the opportunity to give a word of encouragement to the people.
So Paul’s word of encouragement is an example of what it means to know God’s story — the message of salvation — as he calls it. But — now — let’s look at two reasons why knowing God’s story matters. Let’s begin in verse 38.
38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man (that’s Jesus) forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (So Paul is showing his listeners how — what he just said — applies to them. And he points out something we saw him say over and over again in the book of Romans earlier this year. And that’s how the law can’t free a person from their enslavement to sin. The law can’t free us because it’s faith in Christ that frees us from our sin. Paul reiterates this same message in his letter to the Galatians. A letter which he’ll write to the folks he’s speaking to — here in Acts — in a few months. Paul goes on to tell them...) 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: 41 “‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’” 42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. (Acts 13:38-42 ESV)
So why does it matter whether or not we know God’s story? Well one reason it matters is because God’s story — the gospel — is the message through which people find forgiveness and freedom from their sin. If we don’t know God’s story — if we’re ignorant of God’s Word — we may think we know the gospel — the Good News — but we’ll fumble the ball when it comes to proclaiming the message of life that others need to hear — we’ll fail at being the witnesses Jesus has called us to be when the moment is upon us to share the message of life. Why? Because we didn’t know God’s Word. And this is especially true if or when the opportunity to share the gospel is spontaneous and unexpected — at that point — you either know God’s Word or you don’t.
But we must remember that the message we proclaim — which is a message of life, for some — is a message of death for others. The gospel is a message of death to the scoffers and to those who ignore or dismiss — who don’t believe — in the work that God is doing in his creation. The message of life — the message of salvation — softens hearts and gives life. And the same message — the gospel — hardens hearts and pronounces judgment.
And the reason why we must know God’s story is because it will give us confidence to proclaim his Word to all people. And we’ll do so knowing that some will believe — not because of our delivery — not because we said things just the right way — but because the Word of God is “living and active” and it “does not return void.” As I remind myself every single week — this is one of my life resolutions — “The gospel is the power that changes people. And it still works today.”
Thus we find assurance in knowing that the God — who we read about in the Bible — the God who is sovereign, who is King, who is Creator, who parts seas and causes walls to come tumbling down. The God who quenches fires so that men are not burned. The God who shuts the mouths of lions so that Daniel is unharmed. The God who gave visions and prophecies to men and women of old, the God who impregnated a young virgin girl, the God who became man and lived among us — this same God that we read about in the Bible is the God we worship today. We don’t worship an unknown god — we worship a God who’s revealed himself to us in the Scriptures. And as we proclaim who he is and who we are and what God has done for us — we know — because we know God’s story — we know that God will work through us just as he has always worked through his people in the past.
So that’s one reason to know God’s Word. And — beginning in verse 43 — we see another reason why knowing God’s story matters.
43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:43-52 ESV)
Another reason why knowing God’s story matters is because it will give us confidence when we face opposition. Will we face opposition? You better believe it. Will we be jeered at and mocked — like we talked about a few weeks ago? Yes. But here’s hope. It’s found in verse 48. “And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” As many as were appointed. Appointed means chosen. Prearranged. Words that church folks like to debate about and divide over are words meant to give us great confidence when we face opposition. Why? Because those whom God has appointed to eternal life will believe regardless of how much they hate Christ and his gospel right now. Because — if they’ve been appointed to believe — well — God’s guaranteed that they will believe. And that should help us to joyfully leap over the barrier of being afraid to share our faith with others because there are folks whom God has chosen to believe and respond to the message of life when we proclaim it.
Now you may be wondering, “But Josh, don’t people choose to follow Jesus?” And my answer is yes — yes people choose to follow Jesus. But our choice is secondary. Our choice is secondary because God chooses us first. When we talk about free will or free choice we must be careful to not exclude God from the conversation. And God’s free will and his free choice — like his power and his knowledge and his presence and his love — are divine. Thus — he being God and us not being God — means that his will and choice are primary and our will and choice are secondary. Which means we freely choose to respond to God’s divine appointments. That may be incomprehensible to us — or seem illogical or maybe even oppressing — but this is what the Bible tells us. And it couldn’t be more clear than in verse 48. “As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Or as another translation says, “and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.” (Acts 13:48b. NLT)
This is the sovereignty of God in our salvation. We talked about God’s sovereignty a few weeks ago — that God is in control of all things. Yet — as a preacher from centuries ago said, “No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God.” (Spurgeon)
But it’s also been said that, “A high view of God’s sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions…[because the belief] that God’s sovereign over all things will lead Christians to die for the sake of all peoples.” (David Platt)
Or as we’ve been saying in this series, “Believing in — and trusting in — God’s sovereignty will empower us to overcome any barrier we face as we seek to accomplish the mission Jesus has given us — to be his witnesses to the whole world — those who proclaim his message of life to all people.”
As I study history, one of the things I find interesting is how every generation thinks they’re the best — we’re all super humble. We tend to view our moment in history as the most important moment in history. And we demonstrate this by showing little interest in studying where we’ve come from. And — sadly — this isn’t just true for people in general, but this is also true for many who claim to be a Christian. But we Christians have a history. A history we’re to know and study and be inspired by. A history that is God’s story recorded for us by God himself in this book — the Bible.
And — I hope you hear me say this so often that you believe it — but know that even when it comes to knowing God’s story — like everything else God’s people are to do — we don’t read our Bibles in order to ensure that God will love us. God already loves us. We don’t study our Bibles and seek to better understand God’s story in order to guarantee that God will save us in the end. He’s already promised that he will save us. You see, it’s because we already have confidence and assurance in our salvation and in his love for us that we are to respond to our loving Savior by wanting to know him better through his Word — the Bible.
And though we may not know exactly where to begin or may fear that we won’t remember much of what we’ve read, we don’t let these barriers keep us from God’s Word because — ultimately — we open God’s Word not as academics nor as students, but as children who are reading their Heavenly Father’s letter to them. And because we know that our Father loves us, we want to know what he has to say to us. Thus we open his Word and open our hearts so we know his story and understand how our story fits into his. For his story is a story of salvation. His Word to us is a message of life. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word to us — for it is a message of life. Thank you that you didn’t create us only to abandon us. You haven’t left us on our own, but have spoken to us — revealed to us who you are, who we are, and what you are doing in your creation — and we find all of this in your Word — the Bible.
Spirit, stir in us a desire to know the Bible. Not as academics. Not as someone who’s preparing for a test. But as children who want to know what their God is really like. We value being known and being loved. May we demonstrate our love for you by opening up our hearts and our Bibles so we know you better.
Finally, Jesus, we thank you for the message of salvation. It is the message that we’ve responded to in faith — if we’ve believed in you. And it’s the message of salvation that all who — hear my voice and have been appointed to believe — will respond to today. We thank you that you are still in the saving business. Do you work of salvation in those whom you have called to be your people. And we pray all of these things in your name. Amen.
May you go with a passion to know God’s Word so you know his message of life and are ready to share it with anyone at any time. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
You can find the notes for the sermon here.
Stories, news, and resources for things happening at Gateway Church.
