Before we dive into our text today, I want to remind us of the grand movement that has been taking place throughout the book of Acts.
From the beginning of the book until now, God has been meticulously advancing the message of the gospel – the good news of the perfect life and ministry of Jesus Christ who was crucified in our place as the payment for our sins, who was resurrected on the third day in complete victory over our enemies, Satan, Sin, and Death, who ascended into heaven leaving the promise of his Spirit for those who belong to him, and who also promised that he would return to rescue God’s children once and for all – this is the message that God has been advancing deep into enemy territory since the beginning of the book of Acts.
In the midst of God’s military-like advancement, he has pulled out all the stops. From transforming Peter into a Gentile loving Jew, to radically saving a blood thirsty terrorist named Saul, and transforming him into the newly commissioned worldwide evangelist named Paul – we learn that there is literally no one that is beyond the reach of God’s mission to seek and to save the lost, and he will use anyone whom he chooses to accomplish his grand scheme of world transformation through the message of the gospel.
It should not surprise us at all to see God sending his troops out from Jerusalem, into Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, because that is exactly what he said he would do in Acts 1:8. It also should not surprise us to see opposition and warfare around every corner in this story.
But it also should not surprise us to see that just when everything seems to be falling apart, just when it seems like the enemy will win – like the story of Jesus being brutally murdered and buried, or the story of Saul unleashing terror upon God’s people, or the story of Herod murdering James and arresting Peter – just when it seems like everything is about to come undone it should not surprise us to see that God is always a few steps ahead of the enemy as he either completely wipes his enemies off the face of the earth (as was the case of King Herod), or he radically saves his enemies and turns them into allies (as was the case of Saul/Paul), or he leaves the tomb empty on the third day (as was the case of Jesus).
With all of this in mind, I argued in my last sermon, that Christians need to learn to live with a wartime mentality instead of a cruise ship mentality. We were never meant to be consumers who suck the life and resources out of the church in our quest for comfortable social clubs. We were meant to be contributors who take what we have been given in Christ Jesus and labor to give it away to everyone we meet. Jesus did not come to be served like royalty but to serve like an enlisted man who would give his life for the sake of true spiritual freedom.
We should wake up every morning knowing that we live in the midst of a Danger Zone and that our General (Jesus) is sending us into the mission field as soldiers and missionaries who are called to advance the gospel into enemy occupied territory. This world we live in is a spiritual warzone (according to Ephesians 6) and our greatest weapon is not the weapons that the world around us wields (such as politics, education, wealth, fame, social influence); our greatest weapon is the message of the gospel (according to 2 Cor. 10:4). And this is the weapon that the apostle Paul carries with him on his first missionary trip as he advances into enemy occupied territory in the text we are studying today. Look at the text with me…
13Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15After 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.” 16So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17The 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. 18And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22And 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.’ 23Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25And 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. 27For 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. 28And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead, 31and 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. 32And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33this 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.’ 34And 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.’ 35Therefore he says also in another psalm, “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40Beware, 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.’”
42As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43And 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. 44The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46And 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. 47For 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.’”
48And 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. 49And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50But 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. 51But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
#1: WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ADVANCE INTO ENEMY TERRITORY (V. 13 – 15)
In verses 13 – 15, we see the Apostle Paul and his band of brothers continuing forward with the mission that they had been called to as John Mark desserts the mission and desserts his brothers and heads home with his tail between his legs. And the first place the Apostle Paul takes his crew of battle-ready missionaries is into the deepest parts of enemy occupied territory in the Jewish synagogue.
Do not misunderstand me, the Jews were not Paul’s enemies but all throughout the gospels and all throughout the book of Acts, the Jews would prove over and over again that they were enemies of Jesus and therefore had become enemies of God. This is exactly where the Spirit of God moves the Apostle Paul to advance into – the local synagogue full of Jewish worshippers.
At this point in history, there was no one who was more hostile to the gospel than the Jews. The Roman occupation at this point did not even see early Christianity as a threat; they viewed early Christians as a subset of the Jewish faith and on top of that, most Roman leaders were attempting to establish a kind of society where everyone was free to worship whomever they wanted to worship so long as they obeyed the laws of the land. This would eventually lead to Rome’s demise because it created a pluralistic society with no backbone and competing values.
So, the greatest opposition to Christianity in the early days was not necessarily Rome, it was the Jewish faithful. But Paul knew that God loves his enemies, and that God especially loves his chosen nation, Israel. So, this is where he goes first, and upon their arrival in the synagogue, the leaders of the synagogue, in customary fashion, offered their guests an opportunity to encourage the congregation. And Paul seizes the opportunity to unleash the greatest weapon he had through the preaching of the message of the gospel.
#2: WHAT GOD HAS DONE THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY (VV. 16 – 22)
The first part of Paul’s message, in verses 16 – 22, focuses on what God has done throughout human history. The gospel is not a complete message – it is not a fully loaded weapon – if it does not include God’s historical interactions in human history.
In Paul’s opening summary of what God has done throughout human history (vv. 16 – 22), he points out that God chose Israel, made the nation great, led them out of slavery to Egypt, put up with them for forty years of rebellion in the wilderness, destroyed the nations who inhabited the promised Land, gave the Promised Land to Israel, gave them judges to govern the nation, gave them a king to lead the nation until he removed that king for his rebellion, and raised up a new king named David who would lead them as he followed God faithfully though imperfectly.
In all of this, Paul is reminding his Jewish listeners of what God has done throughout human history; God has always been about the salvation and establishment of his kingdom in this warzone that we call earth. God’s kingdom here on earth could be described as God’s sovereign presence, among his redeemed people, amidst enemy occupied territory.
This story of redemption and establishment in Israel’s history is really the story of God’s work throughout human history. All that history is meant to point to one central event that acts as the apex of all human history that is captured in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is where Paul heads next in his message.
#3: WHAT GOD HAS DONE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS (VV. 23 – 39)
Human history is meaningless without the person and work of Jesus Christ; human history is a mere social experiment that has zero eternal impact if it does not point us to Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and returning. This is why Paul transitions in verses 23 – 39 into explaining what God has done through Christ Jesus.
He continues from his previous monologue regarding David as the king whom God had chosen when he says in verse 23, that from “this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.” The promise that Paul is referring to is the promise that God made to David to establish his throne in the midst of his enemies forever (Ps. 110; 2 Sam. 7).
In light of that historical promise, even John the Baptist – a highly respected prophet among the Jews of that time period who was now dead – even he, recognized that Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise (vv. 24 – 25). And in fulfillment of that promise, the Jews in Jerusalem, conned the Roman rulers into murdering Jesus on the cross of Calvary even though they could not find him guilty of anything (vv. 26 – 28). But death could not defeat Jesus, because God raised him from the dead on the third day – a fact that could be confirmed by everyone he appeared to in the weeks following his resurrection (vv. 29 – 31); more than 500 people according to 1 Corinthians 15.
It is this very message, Paul says, that is the Gospel (the good news) that should encourage everyone in that Jewish Synagogue. It should encourage everyone there because the resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of ancient historical promises located in Psalms 2, and 16, and Isaiah 55 (vv. 32 – 35).
The problem for the Jewish people is that they had historically read these promises as referring to David who was obviously dead in the grave at this point, – this is something that Paul goes to great lengths to explain as he contrasts David’s death with Christ’s resurrection; David is dead therefore he is not your Savior but Jesus left the tomb empty therefore He is the Savior we have all been looking for (vv. 36 – 37).
And as awesome and as great as all of this is, we cannot miss Paul’s final knockdown punch; it is like a slug from a 357 as Paul brings the whole message home when he says in verses 38 – 39, “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed [justified] from everything from which you could not be freed [justified] by the law of Moses.”
In other words, all of God’s activity throughout human history, finds its significance in the resurrection of Jesus because in the resurrection of our crucified Savior, we have the proof of the fulfillment of the promise of complete justification whereby the presence, power, and penalty of our sins are completely removed, and we are covered and infused with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine hearing that all your human ancestry pointed to this one act in human history whereby you could receive the free gift of complete sinlessness and innocence before God? Can you imagine what it would be like to hear that the moral codes that you had been following could not save you from the wrath of God but that God himself had provided a way for you to be forgiven and cleansed from your sinful rebellion against him?
#4: THE ONLY DECISION THAT MATTERS (VV. 40 – 50)
That final piece of Paul’s message in verses 38 – 39 regarding what God has done through Christ Jesus is meant to be like an atom bomb dropping from the sky in enemy territory. Once the bomb drops, everyone is forced to decide which side they are enlisted in – which uniform they are wearing. It is the only decision that matters because it is the decision that dictates your eternal destiny.
In verses 40 – 41, Paul issues a warning to his audience urging them not turn a deaf ear to the message of the gospel otherwise they will certainly perish. In response to his warning, in verses 42 – 43 some of the people along with some of the Jews beg Paul and Barnabas to come back the following week and Paul and Barnabas encourage them to remain faithful to the Lord.
The following Sabbath, Paul and Barnabas return to the synagogue where Luke tells us in verse 44 that “almost the entire city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” The turnout was so huge that the Jews became jealous and began to oppose the Apostle Paul as they openly contradicted what he was saying and stirred up popular outspoken women and city officials to persecute and drive out Paul and Barnabas (vv. 45, 50). In all of this it is clear that the Jewish people made their decision to oppose the kingdom of God by rejecting the gospel and persecuting his messengers; they literally “thrusted aside the word of God” and judged themselves “unworthy of eternal life” (v. 46).
The Apostle Paul, to his credit, does not let their rejection, their opposition, and their persecution, intimidate him, but instead he turns his attention to the Gentiles in verses 46 – 47, where he states that even though “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first” to the Jews, he could now turn his attention “to the Gentiles” since the Lord had called the apostles to be “a light for the Gentiles” to “bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” Long story short, the Jews chose to enlist in the enemy’s army therefore the Gentiles now had the opportunity to enlist in God’s army and to bring the message of salvation to the ends of the earth.
I imagine what it would have been like to have been in that synagogue on that very day as the Apostle Paul laid out the only decision that really mattered and what it would have been like to be a Gentile and to see the response of the Jewish people and then to hear that God was extending the opportunity for me to join his army. What do you think it would have been like to see so many religious people turning up their noses at the message of the gospel and then to realize that the same invitation was being extended to you? What would you do?
Luke tells us in verses 48 – 49, that “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. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.” The quote unquote “insiders” rejected their Messiah and enlisted in the enemy’s army while the quote unquote “outsiders” began following Jesus as they enlisted in God’s army.
What began as a little spark in Cornelius’ house a few chapters ago, was now fanned into an out-of-control wildfire by the breathe of the Holy Spirit as he enabled the Apostle Paul to wield the greatest weapon we have at our finger tips – otherwise known as the message of the gospel – amidst an all-out war for the souls of the lost. The result of Paul’s Spirit-enabled wielding of this great weapon of the gospel is that many people responded rightly to the only decision that matters as they became part of the kingdom of God.
CONCLUSION (VV. 51 – 52)…
In conclusion, we have seen how God is all about sending his militant missionaries deep into enemy occupied territory with the greatest weapon we could ever have in the message of the gospel. We have also seen how the Apostle Paul wielded that weapon under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit to the effect that every one of his listeners was forced to make the most important decision they would ever make.
We saw how Paul leveraged human history to highlight God’s activity and we also saw how all of human history previous to Jesus and after Jesus finds its significance in the person and work of Jesus. And once Paul and Barnabas’ work was done in that city, after the Jews showed their true traitorous colors and after the Gentiles joyfully became part of the Kingdom of God, the Jews threw Paul and Barnabas out of town and as the apostles left town Luke tells us that “they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (vv. 51 – 52).
The reality is this, it does not matter how many times you get knocked down, beaten up, belittled, persecuted, rejected, abandoned, betrayed, and mocked when you are carrying the greatest weapon of all time in your pocket. The world can be falling apart at the seams, but if you have the gospel then you have the greatest weapon of all time because the gospel is the message of salvation for all who would trust in Jesus. Carrying this weapon around will help you and I face the horrors of this life with a genuine smile that powered by the Spirit of God.
The best application I can think of after studying this passage is this: Is the gospel your primary weapon of choice when you encounter the enemy? I fear sometimes that we have lost our love for the gospel and by implication have lost our love for Jesus. When social media along with the 24-hour news cycle constantly blasts us with urgent news of wars and rumors of wars and conflicts of every conceivable kind, I fear that we fall more in love with fear mongering, politics, and social reform than we are with the gospel.
I fear that we are more capable of citing facts, stats, and projections for our favorite sports teams, political candidates, or social issues than we are at fully and joyfully articulating the gospel of Jesus Christ in a gentle, winsome, and courageous way. I cannot fully articulate the concern I feel for the bride of Christ in these dark days that we live in. It is as though we have traded in the greatest weapon of all time – the gospel – for squirt guns like entertainment, politics, and news.
I do hope and pray that the Spirit of God would use this passage and use this story of Paul and Barnabas wielding the greatest weapon we have deep in enemy occupied territory to motivate you to fall in love with the gospel, whereby you would fall in love with the crucified, risen, and returning Jesus, so that you too could be enlisted in the King’s army and be commissioned to wield the greatest weapon available to you for the sake of the lost getting found. Is the gospel your primary weapon of choice when you encounter the enemy?
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).