The Apostle Paul has been preaching the gospel for some time now, but in Chapter 13 one of his sermons is presented to us for the first time. It's quite lengthy so we will have to study it in portions.
The missionary team is on the go and Luke tells us, "From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, 'Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.'" (Acts 13:13-15) In his letter to the Galatians Paul mentions that he was quite ill when he was in the area of Pamphylia, the coastal town he has just departed from. Quite a few medical experts believe that the "thorn in the flesh" Paul struggles with throughout the rest of his life is a recurring case of malaria which he contracted in the lowlands of Pamphylia. They think he went to Pisidian Antioch immediately after becoming sick in the hopes that the higher altitude would help him to feel better. So we must keep in mind that, as he preaches this brilliant sermon, he was suffering in body. Yet he gives the Lord his best.
"Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: 'Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!'" (Acts 13:16) Those attending services at the synagogue are both Jews by birth and Gentiles who have converted to Judaism. Many members of this congregation will become Christians after hearing the gospel.
Paul continues, "The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; He made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power He led them out of that country; for about forty years He endured their conduct in the wilderness; and He overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to His people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years." (Acts 13:17-20a) He reminds his listeners that God chose the children of Israel as a special people. Although they tried Him in the wilderness, He remained faithful to His promises to them. God knew everything about the nation of Israel before Abraham ever even had a son. God knew the nation would at times reject Him and rebel against Him. Yet He never went back on His word. The same can be said of those of us who are in Christ. Jesus loved us even though He knew everything about us. He will not go back on His word. This doesn't mean we are free to live in sin, but that when we realize we have sinned and when we repent of that sin He will never say, "Sorry. You've really messed up this time. I'm done with you."
"After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and He gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, He made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'" (Acts 13:20b-22) David truly loved the Lord but he committed a sin that most or all of my readers have never committed: he had a man murdered. Did David do the things God wanted him to do as the leader of Israel? It can honestly be said that for the most part he ruled the nation according to the laws of God. Did David do things God didn't want him to do? He most certainly did! Yet God accepted David's sincere and brokenhearted repentance. As much as King David is revered by those listening to Paul's sermon, each of them is aware of David's mistakes. Each of them is aware that David was not the promised Messiah. Even though David fell into a shocking trap of sin, God didn't take back His promise to send the Messiah from the line of David, as we will see in our next passage. God could have withdrawn His mercy from the inhabitants of this earth at any time, considering how wicked and sinful we all have a tendency to be, but in His faithfulness He still sent the Savior of the world.
"From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised." (Acts 13:23) Every Jew and every convert to Judaism knew the Messiah was to come from the line of David. Jesus of Nazareth was a descendant of David on both His mother Mary's side and on his step-father Joseph's side. It doesn't matter that Joseph was not His biological father; the law of adoption was that an adopted son had all the rights of a natural son. In addition, if Joseph had been Jesus' biological father, Jesus could not have been the perfect and sinless Savior that He is. His blood would not have been capable of washing us clean. His sacrifice would not have been enough to make us sanctified forever in the sight of a holy God.
The portion of Paul's sermon we've looked at today displays God's faithfulness to His promises. We weak and mortal creatures are prone to going back on our word and to falling into rebellion. But God is not like us. "God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19) There are blessings and promises in the Scriptures which are dependent on our obedience, but the promise of a Messiah was not dependent on our obedience. On the contrary, the Messiah was given because we are not obedient. The Messiah was given because we are sinners who need a Savior. Nothing mankind has done was able to break God's promise of a Redeemer. When God made this promise He knew everything about each of us that there was to know, long before we were born. He knew exactly how much it would cost Him to offer salvation to us. But He did it anyway.
Our worship song link for today is below.
What A Savior
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