When Paul preaches the gospel, he doesn't say, let me tell you how you can have a wonderful personal relationship with Jesus. The gospel has to do with a proclamation of what happened really in history. in the person and work of Jesus. The gospel, we must get it right. We don't want to compromise.
So when we read a sermon in the New Testament, we should pay attention. Welcome to the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, where each week we feature the preaching ministry of R. C. Sprohl, the founder of Ligonier Ministries. The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament.
But in addition to writing letters, he preached. And today, from the book of Acts, you'll hear his first recorded sermon. This series we're in right now is focusing on key moments in the ministry of Paul as they're found in Acts. But if you'd like to study all of Axe with R. C.
Sprawl as your guide, don't forget that you can request his commentary when you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight.
So what did Paul preach? Here's Dr. Sprawl.
Now, when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John, parting from them, returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga they came to Antioch and Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, The rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, Say on. And then 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 exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers, in the land of Egypt. And with an uplifted arm he brought them out of it.
And now, for a time of about forty years, he put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. After that, he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king.
So God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. For forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up for them David as king. to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse. A man after my own heart, who will do all of my will.
And from this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel A savior. Jesus. After John had first preached before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, Who do you think I am? I am not he.
But behold, There comes one after me. the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to lose. Here in chapter 13, we have the first record anywhere in the New Testament of a sermon preached by the Apostle Paul. And before we look at the content of that sermon, we see a few words of transition From where we left off before in chapter 13, where Paul and Barnabas had had such a remarkable ministry on the island of Cyprus. And now Luke tells us in chapter 13.
That when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, And John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.
Now these few words seem to be almost insignificant, And just giving us a little bit of geography and itinerary to prepare us for the sermon. But I suggest to you that between the lines here There are some very weighty things that are being reported to us. that we need to notice before we look at that sermon. First, we are told that they set sail from the western boundary the port of Paphos in Cyprus. Which was a city known for its shrine to the pagan goddess Venus.
celebrated through temple prostitution. and cross the ocean then into Asia Minor. to what is now Turkey. Where they landed on the coast at Perga, which was another pagan center, where there was the devotion to the goddess Diana, not to the degree that was found in the great temple of Ephesus that we'll learn of later. But then from Perga, they went inland to Pisidium Antioch.
But in the meantime, we get this little footnote. That when Paul and Barnabas began to set sail, to Asia Minor. John Mark Left. and went back to Jerusalem.
Now Luke doesn't tell us why he left. But in the ancient world, we are told That the inland route from Perga to Pisidium Antioch went between mountains. and was notorious As a haven. for highway bandits and robbers. And so it was exceedingly dangerous to make that journey overland through this place that was surrounded.
With the caravan robbers and so on. In fact, some have speculated that when Paul gives his biographical teaching in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, remember when he defends his honor against the charges of his opponents. who are carping against his ministry. And Paul says, wait a minute. If you want to talk like a fool, I'll speak like a fool.
Are they Israelites?
So am I. Are they followers of so-and-so?
So am I. And then he goes on and tells them: I've been in danger daily. In my ministry, I've been in peril in the city. Peril on the highway. I've been in peril in the water.
And he goes and he elaborates on all of these places where his ministry was taking place in perilous territories and situations. And some even suggest this was one of them that he had in mind.
So maybe that's why John Mark went, but we don't know. But in any case, Paul and Barnabas arrive in Antioch And they go to the synagogue, as the custom, on the Sabbath day, and they sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogues sent to them, Saying, men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say so. Evidently. Paul's renown as a rabbinic scholar.
had already gone before him to these Jewish outposts in Asia Minor.
so that he was probably not unknown by name when he shows up. on the Sabbath day as a guest in the synagogue. Hey. This is Saul of Tarsus. This is the main student of Gamma Layle.
A rabbi with those credentials is automatically given an invitation to address the congregation, just as Jesus had been given. when he came back. to Capernaum to speak in the synagogue. And so Saul takes advantage of this invitation. And we read that he stood up and he motioned with his hand and he said, Men of Israel.
And you who fear God, because the group contained not only the pure Jews, but also the God fearers from the Gentile community who were there. And he raises his hand and he says to them, Listen. And I say that to you now. Listen. to what the apostle says.
He gives a capsule summation. of the history of redemption, beginning with the patriarchs. Men of Israel, you who fear God, listen. The God of this people, Israel. Chose our fathers.
He starts. With the doctrine that every other minister flees from, the doctrine of election. The God of this people chose our fathers and exalted the people. When they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, that's a euphemism, they dwelt in Egypt as slaves. Mali goes on and he says, And with a high arm or an uplifted arm.
God exalted this people. He now calls attention. through the Exodus. And then he goes on to say. And for a time of about forty years, He put up with their ways in the wilderness.
That's a one sentence. Summary of the wilderness wanderings in which these liberated people did nothing but murmur and complain and wish that they could go back to Egypt, back to the leeks and the garlics and the onions where they had it so. Good. And Paul uses the language from medicine here. He talks about God being a nurse.
who has to help. a child who is incapable of taking care of itself. And so now God has to nurse these people through forty years in their wilderness. And then He gives to them, as He says, The seven nations in the land of Canaan Distributed their land to them by allotment. Here we have the whole book of Joshua and Numbers in one sentence.
And after that, He gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel.
So let's recapitulate. We start with the patriarch, the promise to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, then out to Joseph. And then they are sent down into Egypt. And when they're in Egypt, they become enslaved. They cry out.
And God hears the groans of his people and sends Moses down there to lead them in the Exodus. And then as he tenderly cares for them through the wilderness journey, he then prepares them for the conquest of Canaan through Joshua and then the distribution of the land through the book of Numbers to the tribes. And then we're told, for about 450 years, The Jewish people are ruled by charismatic leaders who are not elected. They're not reigning by royal dynasty. But God raises up These individuals anoint them with his Holy Spirit to rescue God's people in times of trouble, like Gideon.
Like Samson. Like Deborah. These are the judges who ruled over Israel. And at this time, Israel was a. loosely federated group of individual tribes.
But they're not satisfied. Do God delivers them time after time after time. They want to be like everybody else. They want to be like the other nations of the world. They want to have a king.
And so they clamor for a king. during the ministry of Samuel. And you know what happens? God says to them, You want a king? Are you sure?
You know what the king is going to do? He's going to put a tax on your property, a tax on your income, a tax on your horses, a tax on everything else he can find to tax. Then he's going to take your sons and put them in his army and deploy them all over the place. That he's going to confiscate your property for the general coffers.
So that's what kings do. Is that what you want? But, you know, God is the kind of God who hears and answers prayers. You got to be careful what you ask for, you might get it. And this case said okay.
The people have rejected me. as their king. And they want a king like the nations.
So Samuel? Get you up. Find a McCain. And he directs them to Saul. And here the text says that Saul The Benjaminite becomes king for forty years.
Forty years of madness At the beginning of the monarchy.
Now, nowhere in the Old Testament do we hear how long Saul reigned in Israel. Here in the New Testament, we were told it's 40 years, and that's the exact number that's given to us by Josephus in his Jewish history. But in any case, Everything in this sermon that begins with the promise to Abraham and the fathers and now comes down to Saul. Is pointing to one significant thing. And this is what we need to understand.
What Paul is doing in this sermon is bringing his readers up to date with respect To David. Listen to what he says about David. God gave them Saul And when he had removed him, He raised up for them David as king. to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse. A man after my own heart Who will do all of my Well One of the things I love about the scriptures is that the heroes and heroines of the Bible are profiled for us, warts and all.
We know that before David ascended to the throne, He was ruthless and brutal in the wilderness, leading his troops in raids against the Philistines and others, and against Saul's troops. And we know that after he became king, as brilliant as he was, as talented as he was, he was the shepherd king, he was the poet king, and so on, nevertheless, he became the chief of sinners. with a scandalous episode with Bathsheba. But in spite of his sin, in spite of his shortcomings. God saw something in David that nobody else could see.
He could see Beneath his armor And it was hard. And he said of David, I will give them a king. who is a man After my Yeah. Heart. I'm not just going to give them a king who's big in stature and handsome and.
I qualified as a warrior. I'm not just going to choose somebody who's a great administrator. I'm not choosing David because of his talent. I'm choosing him. Because he's a man.
after my own heart Christian. What God loves are believers. who don't just give a casual interest. in the things of God. Who don't just show up on church once a month, twice a month for public worship, but then the rest of the time they spin their wheels.
They're not really. body and soul Throwing themselves into the things of God. David would not be satisfied with anything less than the heart of God. Not just his word. Not just his house.
I want to know the heart of God. That should be. What inflames our own souls? This is what Jesus has in mind in the Beatitudes when He says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. after righteousness.
Those are the people who are people after God's own heart. Do you want his heart? And that's what made David stir. Stand out from all the rest.
So that God could speak of him as the apple of his eye. And then comes this portion of the text. From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior. Jesus After John had first preached before his coming, The baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And John was finishing his course.
He said, Who do you think I am? I'm not he. But behold, there comes one after me, the sandals whose feet I am not worthy to loose. This is how Paul Preached the gospel. And Paul drives his words, he drives his message.
First of all, the first major point. Is David? And reminds the Jewish people when they're looking back at the golden age of Israel that God had made a covenant with David, that God had promised them a kingdom that would last forever through David's greater son. who would also be David's Lord. I remember many years ago, thirty five years ago.
I taught a course on Romans back in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hour and forty five minutes every Sunday night. And we went for over a year, and we went verse by verse, word for word, line upon line, precept upon precept. And I labored with our people in the church. over Paul's teaching to the Romans on the gospel of justification by faith alone.
And after I was about past chapter six, The session asked me to come down to Fort Lauderdale and visit the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, which at that time was involved in explosive growth because of this new program called Evangelism Explosion. Where the laity was mobilized to go out and give the gospel to people in the neighborhood. And clergy came to these conferences, and I went as a student. And I went and I listened to this. canned presentation of the gospel and I said Now this is hokey.
It's too simple. They would go out. And they talked to lay people and they'd given them this outline of the gospel. And I was seeing people get converted all over the place. They'd ask people certain questions.
You know, if you come to the place and you're thinking where you know for sure. That When you die, you're going to go to heaven. What would you say if somebody said that to you? Um I knew that if I said that to somebody and they said to me, Why don't believe there is a heaven? I say, well, let me give you thirty-five arguments for the existence of heaven.
Instead, these laymen would say, well, suppose there is one. Do you think you'd go there? And that was the end of the discussion because all they wanted to find out from that question is where those people were in their thinking. And then came the big so-called diagnostic question. If you were to die tonight, And stood before God, and God said to you, Why should I let you into my heaven?
What would you say? I asked my son when he was five or six years old that question. I said, son, if you were to die tonight and you saw God and God said, why should I let you into my heaven, what would you say? And he looked at me like that was the stupidest question you ever heard. He said, because I'm dead.
And there I realized that he was getting his theology not from his father, but from the neighborhood and from the newspaper, because in our culture the belief is justification by death alone. All you have to do to go to heaven is to die. It's funny, I watched this and I came back to Cincinnati, and the next Sunday night we had our class. And I decided to ask everybody in that class those two questions.
So I went around the room and asked everyone: 150 people. If they stood before God, what would they say? And 80% of them. Gave a works righteousness answer. Eighty percent of them said something like this.
Well, God, I tried to live a good life. Or I want the church, or I want the Sunday school, or I gave my goods to the church. Everything except putting their trust in Christ. And in Christ alone. I was almost in despair.
I've just spent almost a year explaining the gospel to these people, and they didn't get it. Because I was under the impression that all we had to do was Educate people into the kingdom. Doesn't work like that. See, what had happened is that I was going through all these details along the way. I never stopped and gave him the big picture.
The big question. And bring them face to face. with the essence of the gospel itself. And that's what Paul does. He spends just a few minutes going all over the Old Testament thing, but then he drives the point to Christ.
And if I would say to you, what is Paul's version of the gospel? Let me tell you, when Paul preaches the gospel, He doesn't say, Let me tell you who changed my life. Let me tell you how you can have a wonderful personal relationship with Jesus. Here's where he starts every time he preaches the gospel. That Christ was born according to the scripture, and being the seed of David.
The gospel has to do with a proclamation of what happened really in history. in the person and work of Jesus. And he takes them from David. Fast forwards to John the Baptist. Who in the early church was more famous?
Then Jesus Because he renewed the whole office of prophecy. And he reminds them of the testimony of John. He said, Don't get confused. God promised the Messiah through the seed of Jesus, and it wasn't John the Baptist. By John's own testimony, he said, Why are you asking me who I am?
I'm not he. The one who comes after me. is before me. He's the Lamb of God. It takes away The sin of the world.
whose sandals I am not worthy to untie In antiquity, the lowest task of a menial slave was to untie and loosen the sandals of the noble and of the gentry. What a humiliating task. John said. I'm not even worthy. To help Jesus with his sins.
Because the gospel is Jesus. That was R. C. Sprawl on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Nathan W.
Bingham. You can hear his passion for the gospel, can't you? that commitment to the truth and for faithful Bible proclamation was a mark of doctor Sproll's ministry. The Lord used him greatly in my life. both as an author and teacher.
and as my pastor.
Well, all of his sermons in the book of Acts were brought together To begin a project to develop a commentary on Acts, and we'll send you the hardcover edition of that commentary when you give a donation at renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight. Use this resource to aid your Bible study. but you can also use it as part of your devotional reading. gain a deeper understanding of the early church as you spend time in the book of acts with R. C.
Sproll's insightful and warm commentary. There's a link for you in the podcast show notes, or you can visit renewingyourmind.org to give your donation, and we'll get this commentary to you. And if you live outside of the US and Canada, you can see that. You can request the e-book edition of this commentary at renewingyourmind.org slash global. Search the e-book edition and be able to take it with you wherever you go.
Visit renewingyourmind.org slash global. and give your gift before this offer ends tonight. We'll continue our journey with the Apostle Paul next time.
So make plans to join us next Sunday here on Renewing Your Mind.
