Unworthy of Eternal Life.

January 18, 2018February 4, 2018 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

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. – Acts 13:42-52 ESV

Paul and Barnabas enjoyed a surprisingly positive response from the little speech Paul had given in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. Unlike previous occasions, like the one when Stephen preached a similar sermon, but was met with anger and stoning; Paul and Barnabas were begged to come back the following Sabbath. The people were intrigued by all that Paul had to say and wanted to hear more. When the meeting broke up, Paul and Barnabas found themselves surrounded by a crowd of Jews and Gentile converts to Judaism, who had, most likely, been moved by Paul’s closing words:

³⁸“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. ³⁹Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do. – Acts 13:38-39 NLT

They were intrigued. They had never heard anything like this before. And before parting ways with these highly inquisitive people, Paul and Barnabas urged them “to continue in the grace of God.” The Greek word translated as “continue” actually carries the meaning of abiding or remaining in something. Paul and Barnabas clearly recognized that the grace.of God had been extended to these people and encouraged them to remain in that grace – willingly open to what God may have to show them in the days ahead. One of the worst things these people could do was to harden their hearts and resist the good news that Paul and Barnabas were sharing. They had heard the message of salvation made possible through Christ’s death and resurrection, but they had not yet accepted it. But Paul and Barnabas knew that God was not done yet. They wanted their audience to remain open to what God was planning to do in their midst.

A week later, Paul and Barnabas made their way to the synagogue again. But this time they were met by a larger-than-capacity crowd, because virtually everyone in the city had shown up to hear what these two men had to say. Word had gotten out and the curiosity level was high. And, evidently, there were non-Jews or Gentiles in the crowd. They would not have been allowed into the synagogue, but they showed up anyway, hoping to catch a glimpse of these two strangers who were teaching about freedom from sin. But the Jews, angered by and jealous because of the amount of notoriety and popularity Paul and Barnabas enjoyed, began to push back and refute their teaching. Luke records that they slandered Paul, most likely hurling all kinds of false accusations against him, in an attempt to undermine his credibility among the rest of the Jews and the Gentiles.

But Paul and Barnabas refused to back down, instead speaking out boldly in their own defense by declaring that they were only doing what they had been told to do: Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, with the Jewish people. That is why they had originally showed up at the synagogue in the first place. But Paul let these incensed Jews know that, in rejecting the gospel message, they were turning their backs on eternal life. Not only that, they were freeing Paul and Barnabas to take the very same message of salvation to the Gentiles. And Paul used an Old Testament Messianic prophecy from the Book of Isaiah to make his point.

“I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.” – Isaiah 49:6 NLT

This was God speaking of His own Son, proclaiming that He had entered the world in order to bring the light of the gospel to the whole world, to the farthest corners of the earth. This meant that Jesus had come in order to die for all mankind, not just the Jewish people. In fact, in that same passage in Isaiah, the voice of the Messiah Himself is heard:

⁵“…the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
and my God has given me strength.
⁶He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.” – Isaiah 49:5-6 NLT

From the very beginning, Jesus had come to do far more than simply establish Israel as a great nation once again. He was not a Messiah who was going to come and set up an earthly kingdom and restore to Israel the glory and grandeur they had enjoy during the days of David and Solomon. That day would come, but in the far-distant future. First, Jesus came to die as a payment for the sins of mankind. He came to offer Himself as a sinless sacrifice, an unblemished lamb, capable of satisfying the just demands of a holy and righteous God.

The apostle John opens up his gospel with these sobering words:

⁹The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹²But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. – John 1:9-13 NLT

Jesus came to the Jewish people. He was born a Jew, a descendant of King David himself. He was raised by Jewish parents and circumcised as an infant, just like every other Jewish boy. He grew up going to synagogue with His parents. He made the annual trips to the city of Jerusalem for the celebrations of Passover and Pentecost. And all during His life, He had kept the law of God perfectly, having never sinned or violated a single command of His heavenly Father.

But John tells us Jesus was rejected by His own. He was the very Light of God, the reflection of God’s own glory and character, but the Jewish people, for the most part, refused to see Him for who He was. They rejected the Light, preferring to live in darkness. John expands on this very thought later on in his gospel.

¹⁸“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” – John 3:18-21 NLT

And we see this lived out on the pages of Luke’s account. The Jews who were verbally assaulting Paul and Barnabas, were rejecting the Light as expressed in the gospel message these two men had preached. Rather than rejoice in the news that they could have forgiveness for and freedom from their sins, they balked, fearing the very idea of having their sins exposed. They were self-righteous hypocrites, who would rather have men think well of them, than confess their sin so that God would forgive them.

Yet, when the Gentiles, who had gathered to hear what Paul and Barnabas had to say, heard them say that the gospel was now available to them, they were ecstatic. Luke writes that “they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers” (Acts 13:48 NLT). Rather than reject the Light, they gladly received it, having the darkness in which they had lived for so long, illuminated by the glory of the grace of God. They came to the light and they were saved. Unlike many of the Jews in the crowd that day, the Gentiles willingly and gladly exposed their sinfulness to the bright light of Christ and found that they received forgiveness, cleansing, acceptance and salvation. Not condemnation. Not rejection.

But those living in darkness did what they naturally do: They tried to hide their sin by getting rid of the light. They stirred up others in the city, influential others, to come to their cause and oppose the teaching of Paul and Barnabas. And they were successful, inciting a mob to chase Paul and Barnabas out of town. But these two men simply did as Jesus had instructed the disciples when He had sent them out. “If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave” (Matthew 10:14 NLT). But when they walked out of the city of Pisidian Antioch, they left behind a vibrant group of energized Gentile believers, who Luke describes as “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52 NLT). These men and women became lights in the midst of the darkness of Pisidian Antioch, and their presence would continue to have a cleansing, purging and transformative impact on that city for years to come.

English Standard Version (ESV)

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Am Doing A Work.

January 17, 2018February 2, 2018 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

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.’” – Acts 13:13-41 ESV

Here we have Luke’s record of the initial leg of Paul and Barnabas’ first of three missionary journeys. And we will see that it combines the divine will of God working through the lives of men. In verse four of this chapter, Paul and Barnabas are sent out by the leadership of the church in Antioch of Syria, but under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Their first stop was the island of Cyprus, where they ran into a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. It just so happened that this man, who was also a sorcerer or magician, had a close relationship with the Roman governor, a man named Sergius Paulus. The seemingly chance encounter Paul and Barnabas had with Bar-Jesus led to this man’s blinding and the Roman governor’s salvation. It had been a divine appointment all along. And now, as Paul and Barnabas leave Cyprus, we are told by Luke that they made their way to Pisidian Antioch, located in Asia Minor, in what is now modern-day Turkey. But what prompted them to go to this seemingly remote location? It is clear, from Luke’s perspective, that they were being directed by the Holy Spirit, but there is no indication from the text that Paul and Barnabas received a direct order from the Spirit to focus their efforts on this particular city. Recent scholarship has shown that the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus, whom Paul and Barnabas had helped lead to Christ, had connections in Pisidian Antioch. His family owned a large estate there. So, it would seem that he encouraged the two men to carry the good news of Jesus to his family members who lived in Pisidian Antioch. What this reveals is how God orchestrates events, even our relational encounters, in such a way, that He moves, unseen, guiding and directing our steps. When Paul and Barnabas had set out for Cyprus, they had no idea they would meet the Roman governor and see him come to faith in Christ. And they most likely had no hard and fast plans to place Pisidian Antioch on their missionary itinerary. But upon meeting Sergius Paulus and hearing of his concern for the spiritual well-being of his distant family members, Paul and Barnabas made it a priority to go and share the gospel there.

Upon their arrival, they made their way on the Sabbath to the local synagogue, as was becoming their custom. Their arrival had not gone unnoticed, because when the traditional reading of the Scriptures was complete, they were asked to say a few words to the congregation. It seems a bit odd that Paul and Barnabas were given the privilege of addressing the crowd gathered in the synagogue. If news had reached Pisidian Antioch of all that had happened on Cyprus, and the ministry Paul had had among the Gentiles in Antioch in Syria, the Jews in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch would most likely not have welcomed these two men as they did. But given the chance to speak, Paul took full advantage of it. And he presented a sermon that had a very familiar ring to it, echoing what Peter had said in Acts 2 and the message Stephen delivered in Acts 7. Paul started his message by addressing his audience. “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen” (Acts 13:16 ESV). This would have included native Jews and Gentiles who had converted to Judaism. Then, he proceeded to give them a history lesson. He started by recalling God’s establishment of Israel as a great nation while they were living in the land of Egypt. He reminded them of God’s miraculous deliverance and the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness that their ancestors endured. But eventually, they arrived at the land promised to Abraham, and conquered the nations that lived there. And 450 years later, God gave them a series of judges, then their first king, a man named Saul. He was followed by the great king, David, a man after God’s own heart. And then, Paul gets to the real point of his message. “Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised” (Acts 13:23 ESV). His goal all along had been to get to the topic of Jesus, the son of David and the Savior of the world. Paul wastes no time, but cuts to the chase, telling his audience “to us has been sent the message of this salvation” (Acts 13:26 ESV). But the Jews living in Jerusalem and Judea had refused to accept the very one who had brought them salvation. They had failed to recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Even His suffering and death had been predicted and, without even knowing it, the religious leaders in Jerusalem had helped fulfill those prophecies by having Jesus put to death. And Paul makes it clear that “though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed” (Acts 13:28 ESV). But God raised Him from the dead.

At this point, Paul had them. They were either incensed or totally intrigued by what he had to say. Because of their distance from Jerusalem and the events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, this may have been the first time many of them had heard this news. But as Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, they would have known about the Messiah and would have found the words of Paul, if nothing else, fascinating. And Paul let them know why he and Barnabas were there: “…we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus” (Acts 13:32-33 ESV).

Paul wanted them to understand that the Scriptures they revered and read each and every Sabbath day in the synagogue, spoke of Jesus. He used the psalms of David to show them that these passages were prophetic, speaking of the coming Messiah. Jesus, because He died and was raised back to life, did not undergo any decay. His body was spared the normal and natural effects of death. This was not true of King David, who had written, “You will not let your Holy One see corruption” (Acts 13:35 ESV). David had not been speaking of himself, but of one to come. And Paul let them know, in no uncertain terms, that Jesus had been that one. He had come. He did die. But He was raised back to life. And Paul and Barnabas were witnesses of that reality. And the truly good news was that “through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do” (Acts 13:38-39 NLT). There’s the crux of Paul’s message: Justification. How are sinful men made right with a holy God? Not by keeping the law. That was an impossible task. It always ended in failure, because the law was always and only intended to show man his sin. Paul would later write a letter to the people living in this part of the world, telling them, “Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised” (Galatians 3:19 NLT). And one day, he would also write to the believers in Rome, telling them, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins” (Romans 8:3 NLT).

Paul offered these devout Jews and God-fearing Gentiles an opportunity to be made right with God, through faith in Jesus Christ. But he warned them to not repeat the sins of their ancestors, who had scoffed at the words of God. Quoting from the book of Habakuk, Paul repeated the words God had spoken to the people in Habakuk’s day. “I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you” (Acts 13:41 ESV). Paul warned his audience to not treat God’s words with disbelief. He wanted them to understand that God was doing a work in their day. He had sent His Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of mankind, so that the penalty for sin could be paid for and the consequences of death eliminated once and for all. But they must believe. They must trust that what Paul was saying was true and that Jesus was the promised Messiah and Savior of the world.

God was doing a work among them, but they ran the risk of missing it if they refused to see it for what it was: God’s plan of salvation made possible through the death and resurrection of His very own son and their Messiah.

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

Pisidian Antioch

Unworthy of Eternal Life.

I Am Doing A Work.