You pick up your Bible and wonder, is there more here than meets the eye?
Is there anything here for me? I mean, it's just words printed on paper, right? Well, it may look like just print on a page, but it's more than ink. Join us for the next half hour as we explore God's Word together, as we learn how to explore it on our own, as we ask God to meet us there in its pages.
Welcome to More Than Ink. So, Paul and Barnabas are on a foot journey, and they're heading towards by city in Antioch, and they want to start a conversation about the Messiah. Where do they go? Yeah, where do they go? Do they like stand on a street corner or something? Well, actually, they go into a synagogue where they know the law and the prophets will be read on the Sabbath.
Right, and at the end of the service, they'll ask him to speak. We'll see it today on More Than Ink. Okay, if you've been looking around trying to find us, here we are. I'm Jim. And I'm Dorothy.
And this is More Than Ink. And today, we're continuing on with this riveting account of the gospel as it moves its way through the larger world. And since the crucifixion of Jesus and the resurrection and the appearance to all the apostles, much has been going on in Israel, but now the gospel is leaving the Israel area, and it's moving across the world. And last time we were together, we saw that Paul and Barnabas had been set apart from the church in Antioch to go, and they went. They went, and they took off not exactly knowing where they were going. No, they didn't know where they were going. So, they went down the nearest port city, they picked up a boat, they went directly west on the Mediterranean, and boom, from where they are, you end up in Cyprus. And they get on Cyprus, have some exciting adventures there, cross the entire width of Cyprus to the western end, and got to a port city on the other side of Cyprus, and that's where we are today. They're going to get on another boat, and the adventures will ensue. So, they've toured the whole island. Exactly.
And they're ready to press on. God has not said, go home. Right, right. So, they're going further away from home. And so, here we go.
So, that's just clearly where we pick up the story today. We know that we have, leaving Cyprus, we have at least Paul, and Barnabas, and John Mark. Right. They're at the port city. So, that's where we are.
Well, and I'd encourage you, if you're listening, and you have a map in the back of your Bible of Paul's missionary journeys, open that up, because it will help you kind of track where they're going, and it'll help you spot these names. Yeah. That's a good tip from here on out in Acts, because we'll be doing a lot of geography, and interestingly enough, you can still type up the names of some of these cities like on Google Earth, and they're still on the map. They're still there.
So, these are not made up. Okay, well, so we're sitting in the port. We're ready to get on our plane or our boat, and we're going to take off from the island of Cyprus.
You want to pick us up? Yeah. Okay. Chapter 13, verse 13. Verse 13. Okay.
Here we go. So, now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. Okay, because this is a different Antioch. A different Antioch. Remember, they left from Antioch that was up in present-day Syria, right? Right, and so many times in the passage, that place they came from is called Syrian Antioch. This is Pisidian Antioch, and this Pisidian Antioch, Pisidia is just a large general region right smack dab in the center heart of present-day Turkey.
Okay. So, that's where they're going. So, that's where they are. And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. 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. Oh, let's pause there. Yeah, let's pause there. Because they know these guys are strangers, but they're dressed like Jews, and they're in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and they listen politely through all the scripture reading and all of that, and then they get invited to speak.
Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, that was a standard protocol in the synagogues. It was a great opportunity for Paul, because on the Sabbath, they would get together, and the first thing they would do is read out of the Torah, public reading of the Torah, which is the first five books. And then they usually read out of the prophets, and so they'd read a little bit out of the prophets, you know, like Jeremiah or Isaiah or something like that.
And then it was open mic time. They would basically say, is there anyone here who brings a good word from God, something that anyone would encourage us? And it was always implied that you connected in with the passage of scripture that had just been written and read.
Okay. So, they're in the synagogue. There's enough Jews in Pisidian Antioch to have a synagogue, but there are also Gentiles present, right? Because we've left Israel now, and the Jewish population is probably not the dominant population in this area. They're out in Gentile territory. Yeah. And interestingly enough, it sounds like some of these people, Gentiles interested in Judaism are hanging out on the Sabbath.
Okay. Well, there have always been throughout actually all of scripture, the Gentile seekers, and they called them God fearers, people who were drawn to the God of Israel and came in close to hear the truth. So, that's the case here in this synagogue. Which explains why when he does his salutation at the beginning, it says men of Israel and you who fear God. Right. Those may not be the one in the same people.
Yeah, I know it's Jews and Gentiles. He says that in a couple of places in this sermon. Exactly. So, let's just read what he says, because most of what we're gonna read for the rest of today is exactly what he tells these people smack dab in the middle of Turkey. And this is Paul's first big sermon that we have recorded, is it not?
Yes. And it's a pretty good one. Okay, so verse 16, so Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, men of Israel and you who fear God, listen, 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. And for about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness. That's a good way to put that.
That's a good way to put it, yeah. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. 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.
Of this man's offspring, God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, as he promised. Yeah, let's stop there. Yeah.
So boy, is that a truncated history. But he's driving right for Messiah, right? He is. And he's starting all the way from being in captivity in Egypt.
Right. You know that whole story that the 10 bad plagues and then being left out of Egypt and going across the desert, being in the desert for a whole generation. So he brings us all the way up to the point of David and then leaps and says, oh, yeah, remember David? Remember David, the throne of David? Well, and it's interesting, he says of David, a man after my heart who will do all my will and of his offspring, God brought a savior to Israel. It's that a man after God's heart who will do his will.
Right. And that phrase he's trying to say does not just apply to David and it's well known that it applies to David, but his offspring would also have exactly the same characteristics. So this is how he introduces Jesus as being the offspring of David, who was a man after God's own heart. Oh, so he's from the kingly line of David, but he's also savior. Right. And if they know any Jewish history, they knew the Messiah has to come from the kingly line of David.
So he's got their attention at this point because he's basically not just hinting but he's pushing on them. This Jesus is the promised Messiah. The one who came to do God's will. Yes.
Right. And that's kind of ringing in my mind because David wrote Psalm 40 where it says that, behold, I've come like it says in the scroll of the book to do your will. And the writer of Hebrews picks that up and says of Messiah, I've come to do your will, oh God.
So I love that. So at this point, the people here in the middle of Asia Minor, they used to call it, might have heard something about Jesus, but this might be the first time they've ever connected to the fact that people think he's the Messiah. And so right here, I mean, we stopped at a good point because I think dramatically in Paul's statement right here, at the point we stopped, there's a gasp in the room.
Because when you say David and a son of David, an offspring of David, man after my own heart, you're making a gigantic claim, a gigantic claim. And so the gears are turning in their heads. They're wondering if Elijah had come before him because Elijah was supposed to come before the Messiah. Well, he's going to go there. So they're all, they're bated breath.
So he's got them right here. So let's see how he goes on after this, after he's introduced Jesus as maybe the Messiah. Okay, so verse 24, before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 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 his feet, I am not worthy to untie. So it's a little bit hard for our minds to pick it up. But he's connecting John the Baptist, which the one who would come before the Messiah, the one who would herald the coming of the Messiah.
So he's clearly he's clearly ticked that one off their concern list. They say John the Baptist, that was the guy because they're thinking, well, Elijah has to come first. Right.
But Jesus had said, he's the he is the spirit, if you will, Elijah. Yeah, Elijah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the first thing.
So. So then he needs to still shore up his claim about who Jesus is, as the Messiah, the forerunner has come in this Elijah like man, John the Baptist, and so he continues, knowing where their minds are going in verse 26. Okay, so he says, again, he addresses them both Jews and Gentiles, brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfill them by condemning him. Okay, I say he's anticipating what they're thinking, because they're thinking, no, wait a second, if the Messiah has really come, did he set up his kingdom in Israel? Why haven't we heard about it? Yeah, how comes no one sent us any memos on this?
And so he goes after that just immediately by saying, okay, now hold on, hold on. Here's the issue. Those who were in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him, right, nor understand. And they didn't understand the prophets that were being read to them. Yeah, because if they'd listened to the prophets, they would know there would have to be a suffering Messiah. Right.
Right. So that's why you didn't see a kingdom set up because, well, they killed him. Well, and they have just read the law and the prophets in this synagogue, so they're thinking, oh, what passages did we read? Oh, did we hear something about Messiah? So they fulfill them by condemning him, verse 28.
And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 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. But God raised him from the dead. And for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem and who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus as also as written in the second Psalm.
You are my son. Today I have forgotten and begotten you. Sorry, today I have begotten you. Begotten, yeah, yeah. 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. Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not let your holy one see corruption. 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.
But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Should we stop there? Yeah, I mean we've covered a lot of ground right here. He's really leaning into the resurrection.
Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, and what I really like about the fact here is that he doesn't, he starts really with just the facts. He's not leaning into philosophy or interpreting scripture necessarily. But he does say, he does say that according to scripture he was condemned and that scripture said that would have to happen. They fulfilled the scripture by condemning Jesus, which is something that a lot of Jews just were not expecting. But it's there.
I mean it's very clearly there. They didn't understand that. And so then he just goes on with the facts of the story. And indeed this is what happened. They executed him. And they carried out everything that was written about him. They took him down from the tree, which is an obvious connection to the Deuteronomy 21 thing about the curse of someone on a tree. And then God raised him from the dead.
Now that should raise a lot of hackles. Well, and Jesus actually had said this same thing when he was arguing in the temple with the Pharisees that, you know, that David, who were laid in the tomb, died. His body rotted. Yeah, right. And that's what he's going to support in just a second.
Right. But he's still just covering the facts of the matter. He was crucified. He raised from the dead.
31, he appeared to people who knew him many times, who are now his witnesses to the people. And they're telling their stories about having seen him like this. And so here we go.
We're telling you the story now. Verse 32, we're telling you the good news that what God has promised to the fathers. So what I'm telling you has been embedded in the scriptures.
He promised to their fathers, this has been fulfilled. So throughout all this, he's just telling the account of what happened in Jerusalem. And he's saying all of this was according to the scriptures. He's connecting it into the Psalms and the prophets that they know. And I think at this point they're saying, okay, how is it connected to the scriptures? You're saying it is connected, but I'm still, my mind is racing trying to connect it. What are you connecting these events to that you just told us about these events?
What are you connecting it to? And so that's why he goes to the Psalms now. Now he starts bringing these things out. So he says like, remember, you know this, remember Psalm 2, which by the way, if you're a student of the Psalms, Psalms 2 is probably alongside of 110, you know, one of the biggest messianic Psalms going. And recognized as such.
Oh my gosh. If you've never read Psalm 2, I just recommend you read it because he pulls us out right now and talks about this Psalm 2 is this Jesus we're talking about. This mysterious, this mysterious unnamed person in Psalm 2 who has just clearly, you know, divine connections. Who is that? Whom God has called Son and installed as King.
And installed as King. Yes. Read Psalm 2, you'll see. I mean, right here he's connecting Jesus to just a huge claim in Psalm 2. Right. And if you're wondering about the raising from the dead part, which I know you're thinking, that's what he says in 31.
I know you're thinking this. What passage am I connecting this to? How does this fulfill scripture?
And he quotes another one. Psalm 16, 10. Psalm 16, very important. I will give you the holy and sheer blessings of David. No, that's from Isaiah. Oh, that's Isaiah. But you will not let your Holy One seek corruption.
You will not seek corruption. That's Psalm 16. And by the way, that Psalm 16 and discussions on Jesus with the Pharisees was a big hot topic of discussion while he did his ministry.
Right. Because they always presume that meant David and not Jesus, not the Messiah. So he ties these together all pretty tightly right here and says, when we talk about raising from the dead, he didn't see corruption. How could he not see corruption?
If he's raised from the dead, he didn't see corruption. Yeah. So there's a fulfillment of scripture. Is that where we stopped? Yeah. We read through verse 36. Yeah.
Let's see. Well, this is where he disproves their thinking that Psalm 16 is about David. Right.
And he says, no, 36. David fell asleep and died and his body rioted. And he saw corruption. Right.
But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. So verse 38, let it be known to you therefore brothers that through this man, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Right. On the basis of the resurrection, the basis of the broken death. Yes.
Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Yeah. Let's stop there for a second.
We need to. Because that is a gigantic piece of theology that will take the entire rest of the New Testament for people to kind of catch. And that's really what the role of the law was, the law of Moses. And it can just be simply stated because Paul says this eloquently and the writer of Hebrews says this eloquently. It says basically the law was meant to expose your sin.
It's meant to expose your sin, but it's not a way to fix your sin. Well, the law makes nothing perfect. Right. That's what the writer of Hebrews says again and again.
Right. Or this fellow we saw on the broadcast on the TV, that podcast, he says basically the law is like a mirror. It shows you how dirty you are.
But there's no way you can clean yourself up with just using a mirror. Another thing has to do that for you. I was trying to think what podcast you're referring to. Are you talking about So Be It?
No, no, I'm thinking about Wes Huff's broadcast. Oh, oh, oh. Yeah. So the law, I mean the law, what he's trying to say here, and he'll expand on a lot in his letters, is the fact that the law is really meant to show you really how far you have to go to measure up to God's standard of righteousness and you can't do it. But just doing the law, will that fix it?
No. The law doesn't free you. The law enslaves you.
Enslaves you. Right. So the law, that's the problem. So that's why he says it so clearly here.
I just love how he says it. And by him, by Christ, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. The law of Moses will not free you from the condemnation of sin.
No matter how hard you try to do the law, you won't get there. And so he'll expand on that when it goes through Romans especially. Good stuff.
Good stuff. So Paul's going to issue him a warning now here in verse four. He says, beware therefore, lest what is said in the prophets should come about.
Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish, for I'm doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe even if one tells it to you. Okay, he's quoting from Habakkuk. Habakkuk, yeah, yeah. Habakkuk 1.5, which is happening on the verge of the Assyrian takeover of the northern kingdom, right? Habakkuk is standing and looking and going, oh, they're coming, my knees are shaking, my guts are falling apart. And God says, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you.
Yeah. But this is such a perfect quote to capture this moment. That's right. Here's Paul, the one who's telling it to you in the end of that quote, and they're sitting there scoffers going, what are you saying? You know, look you scoffers, be astounded and perish, for I'm doing a work in your days. And perish if you don't believe.
Right, right. So this Habakkuk quote perfectly captures what they're thinking and what they're feeling at this moment. Paul just dumped a truckload of stuff on him, a truckload. He's connected a lot of dots that they're probably struggling to keep up with. Yeah, I mean, he claimed that Jesus is the Messiah. And they're wondering why there's no kingdom. He addresses why there's no kingdom because they killed him, but then he was dead and raised again, according to the scriptures. Even the killing was according to the scriptures. And then as they're thinking, what scriptures are you talking about, then he starts listing them.
Okay, so they're sitting there just, I mean, this is like a fire hose. So this verse from Habakkuk perfectly captures the moment. And I'm just thinking that, you know, Jesus was always saying, do you believe me? Do you believe me?
If you believe in me, certain things will fall. So, you know, Paul is just kind of grabbing onto that and saying, even if somebody tells you, you won't believe. Well, that's what Jesus said, right? Even if somebody goes back to them from the dead, they won't believe. Right. So he's raising the question in their minds, are we determined to not believe what we hear? Yeah, yeah. And, you know, people ridicule Christians today because they say, oh, you guys, it's just so simple to you.
It's so easy. All you have to do is believe. Well, I believe Jesus was a man. So is that enough?
No. It's what you believe about Jesus. What you believe about who Jesus is.
And in this particular case, it's very clear. Do you believe he is the promised Messiah? And do you believe that by his power, he's the one that frees us from the consequences of our sin and not something else? Do you believe that whole package, basically? That's what you have to believe. And he makes it really clear that that's the whole point. And in fact, that's what they're struggling with. They're sitting there saying, you made a claim about who Jesus is, and we're still trying to play catch up if he really is the Messiah you're talking about, that everything has changed.
And now I'm challenged. Do I believe that Jesus is that one that was prefigured all the way through the Old Testament? Do I really believe he's that one? Because after all, he didn't establish a kingdom. He didn't take over Jerusalem, but he was killed. And now you claim that's because scripture said he would be killed and he was raised.
And now you claim because scriptures say he'll be raised. And now you're giving me passages that tell me that's exactly what's going on. So they're trying to put all this stuff together in their heads.
And the issue from Habakkuk again in 41, it's a work that you will not believe the issue. Even if you're told. Even if you're told. And here's Paul telling them, and they're struggling with believing it. But he has aroused a tremendous thirst and a curiosity in them. Because look what happens in verse 42. And as they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. They're going to spend the whole week talking about it and searching the scriptures themselves. And they want to hear more from this guy. And that's a great response.
I mean, like I said, this was a fire hose. And instead of just dismissing it, they say, you need to tell us a lot more about this. So let's do this next Sabbath when we get together.
So for verse 43, 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. So for some, this was enough. They're like, I get it. I'm in.
I'm with you. Keep talking to me. Keep teaching. Right. And I think that's a natural and wonderful response because he has condensed so much about who Jesus is and the history, anchored in the history of Israel, what the prophets had said about the coming Messiah. Their heads are spinning. Their heads are spinning. And so I always love it when people respond to me when I talk about issues like this. And their response is either going to be, I don't think so.
And they just dismiss it or they say, oh, wait, you've given me more to think about than I can deal with right now. Maybe some more. Let's do some more of this. Yeah. And at that point, suddenly I find with a lot of people who are in that position, that they start pulling out of you faster than almost you can fill the pipeline.
I mean, there's a hunger that started as they tasted this. And that's what they're going to aim for the next Sabbath. We need to do this again. You need to tell us a whole lot more about what's going on.
And we'll figure this out for ourselves. We're not dismissing you. And we're not making fun of you like they did in another place. Oh, you mentioned the resurrection. Well, okay, we're done here. No, they said, you got to tell us more.
But there's something really fun here. Because Luke makes a point of telling us this is Jews and devout converts together. Yeah, right. This is like a little pre figure of the rest of all of Paul's ministry, right? He sent to the Gentiles.
Yeah. So here on this first missionary journey, who is he preached to? Well, Sergius Paulus is a Gentile. And here up in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, we have this mixed crowd of Jews and Gentiles together seeking the Word of God that Paul has begun to preach. Yeah, and that that kind of leads into where we're going to go next time, because they do get together on the next Sabbath, which is a good deal. But but Paul and Barnabas' status with Gentiles is going to take a radical shift. And we're going to see that happen next time, as they as they try to work their way through the issues of how can Jesus be the Messiah? How can he be the one that was prefigured and talked about so clearly and so dynamically in the Old Testament?
I mean, Daniel 9 and talking about this incredibly powerful, all powerful, whose kingdom will never end kind of guy. I mean, they're trying to they're trying to stitch this together. I think exactly, this is exactly the roadmap that Paul had to think his way through after he came to Christ on the Damascus Road. He had to put all this together. He had to figure out how this all works. You can't expect these guys to do what he what he went through in just a short, you know, longer amount of time. So they're going to get together again. And it's going to change their entire strategy as we as it pertains to how to reach out to the Jews and the Gentiles alike.
So you can read you can read for it if you'd like to by the way to it. If you're a Bible student, you might want to compare this speech that Paul makes with a speech that was made 15 years prior at Pentecost that Peter made very similar and you might want to compare it to a sermon that was given by Stephen in Acts seven, and you'll find that it sounds like one person wrote all these speeches. And who could that person be? That person must be the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. Yeah.
So go back and take a look at those. I mean, it's fascinating stuff. The gospel is the gospel is the gospel. And Paul is proclaiming it clearly to strangers in the middle of Turkey. So I'm Jim and I'm Dorothy and come back next time. And we'll see how the response goes on the next Sabbath here on More Than Ink. There are many more episodes of this broadcast to be found at our website, morethanink.org. And while you're there, take a moment to drop us a note. Remember, the Bible is God's love letter to you.
Pick it up and read it for yourself and you will discover that the words printed there are indeed more than ink. Okay. Okay. Okay. You ready? Yeah. This has been a production of Main Street Church of Brigham City.
