History Of Salvation
Text: Acts 13:13-31
Introduction
1. I've always been fascinated with history. In fact when our children were growing up they weren't sure what century they were from because we spent so much time at museums and living history events, especially Civil War reenactments. In particular I was fascinated with Ohio history because I would read about places that I was familiar with and had been to.
2. This is another reason that Christianity is so fascinating to me, because of the rich historical aspects of our faith.
3. In Paul's sermon in Antioch of Pisidia he spoke about the History of Salvation.
4. Salvation history is...
A. Based On Scripture
B. Based On Rebellion
C. Fulfilled In Jesus
5. Let's all stand together as we read Acts 13:13-31.
Proposition: Salvation history is the story of how God worked in history to redeem us from sin.
Transition: The most important aspect of Salvation history is it is...
I. Based On Scripture (13-15).
A. Books Of Moses and The Prophets
1. After being set apart by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the church in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas got right to work.
A. They set out with a band of missionaries and took a boat trip to Pamphylia and landed in the port town of Perga.
B. At this point John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.
2. Then Luke tells us, "Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. 15 After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.”
A. From Perga they traveled 160 miles on a dangerous mountain road to an elevation of 3,600 feet at Antioch near Pisidia on the right bank of the River Anthios.
B. As usual, they went first to the synagogue.
C. They would go on the Sabbath, taking advantage of the Jewish custom of inviting itinerant teachers to speak (Jesus also did this—see, for example.
D. Paul and Barnabas did not separate themselves from the synagogues but tried to show clearly that the very Scriptures the Jews studied pointed to Jesus.
E. Someone else was appointed to read the selections from the Law (i.e., the Pentateuch) and from one of the Prophets.
F. Then the "synagogue rulers," or elders, "sent word to them" (for they were sitting in the back of the synagogue) and courteously asked them to give a word of "encouragement" (Horton, Acts: A Logion Press Commentary, 239).
3. However, the thing that we need to see is that they used the Scriptures to tell them about Jesus.
A. They would show them how everything from Genesis to Malachi pointed to Jesus.
B. It showed that Jesus was always God's plan to redeem us from the consequences of sin.
C. It showed how Jesus met every prophecy of the Messiah.
D. It showed how the Scriptures, and everyone they talked about, longed for the day of Jesus coming.
B. Story Of The Bible
1. Biblical Illiteracy Studies show only 17% of Americans read the Bible regularly while Gallup studies show 80% of Americans see themselves as Christians. These statistics establish the sad reality that a large majority of Christians are biblically illiterate and spiritual juveniles(Pen & Sword 11-12/03).
2. Seminaries concerned about lack of basic Bible knowledge has prompted some schools to send CD-ROM Bibles to incoming freshmen. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville discovered only 1 in 10 students could list the 10 commandments, while 3 in 10 Wheaton College frosh could identify Mathew as an apostle (PWB 2/11/00).
3. The entire Bible points to our need for Jesus.
A. Romans 15:4 (NLT)
Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
B. From cover to cover the Bible shows us our need for Jesus.
C. From cover to cover the Bible shows us all that God did for our salvation.
D. From cover to cover the Bible shows us how God never gave up on us.
E. So why do give so little of our effort to reading and learning the Scriptures?
F. If the Bible was written for our encouragement why aren't Christians reading it?
G. When are we going to make the Bible one the top priorities in our lives?
H. When our we going to take it off the shelf and into our hearts and minds?
Transition: Salvation History is also...
II. Based On Rebellion (16-22).
A. He Put Up With Them
1. Now one thing that is true of Paul is that he was never one to back away from an opportunity to share the Good News about Jesus.
2. Well this was no exception, "So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me."
A. Paul then stood, waved his hand for silence, and asked the Israelites and the God-fearing Gentiles to listen.
B. By this we see that there were interested Gentiles in the synagogue audience.
C. Many Gentiles were tired of the immorality and idolatry of heathen religion. They were hungry for something better and were attracted to the synagogues and to the worship of the one true God, who—unlike their pagan gods—identified himself as holy.
D. His sermon shows he usually surveyed Israel's history, proclaimed the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and applied the message to his audience.
E. Luke does not, however, give such detail in the record of later sermons, but it seems clear that Paul followed the same pattern the first time he preached in any synagogue.
F. As Paul began he courteously addressed both the Jews and Gentiles in the audience and recognized them both as "brothers" (see v. 26), keeping both in mind throughout the sermon (Horton, 239-240).
3. Then Paul begins, “The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. 18 He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness."
A. Paul began his message by emphasizing God’s covenant with Israel. This was a point of agreement because all Jews were proud to be God’s chosen people.
B. His review of Israel’s history is like Stephen’s lengthy review of the same in his sermon to a Jewish crowd in Jerusalem.
C. This was a common form of address known as a “historical retrospect”—a sketch of the course of God’s work in the nation’s history.
D. Paul would move quickly from Abraham to Moses, Samuel, and David and eventually come to Jesus.
E. After the implied mention of Abraham (chose our ancestors), Paul moved on to Egypt.
F. Moses’ name is not mentioned, but rather, God is pictured leading Israel out of slavery (Barton, 518-519).
G. Israel knew great blessing during its sojourn in Egypt, for God literally "exalted" them by greatly increasing their numbers, yet the people sinned, and God had to "put up with" them forty years in the wilderness.
H. This verb is a combination of tropos (4999), “fashion, manner, or way,” and pherō (5179), “to bear” or “carry,” and carries the idea of putting up with someone else’s character or manners (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Sigma-Omega).
4. Paul continues saying,
"Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. “After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophets. Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years."
A. He did not name the seven nations in Canaan whose land had been given to Israel as an inheritance—these were well known to Paul’s audience.
B. The 450 years was an inclusive figure for all the events that had occurred so far in Paul’s survey—from the move to Egypt (four hundred years), the wandering in the wilderness (forty years), through the distribution of the land under Joshua (ten years).
C. Paul summarized the period of the judges with two words, judges ruled, leading up to the time of the prophets, beginning with Samuel, who was considered the first prophet.
D. Israel’s kingdom period began with Saul (1 Samuel 9:1-2), who was the first king (Barton, 519).
5. In all of this Paul is leading up to Jesus, and what he says next is the bridge to Jesus. "But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’"
A. The climax of this historical account is reached when Paul says God bore witness to David as a man after His own heart, who would do "everything I want him to do."
B. The purpose and desire to do all God's will is, of course, the thing that made David a man after God's own heart.
C. Now the people in Paul's audience knew God's promise to David.
D. They also knew the prophecies that God would raise up a greater seed to David, as well as the prophecy that He would give David's throne to the One it rightfully belonged to.
E. In this way Paul declares that God had fulfilled His promise and "from this man's descendants" raised up to Israel a Savior, Jesus (Horton, 242).
B. God Puts Up With Us
1. Illustration: John Wesley was a popular evangelist in early America and often rode from one church to another to preach. On one such journey, stopped by a highwayman who shouted, "Halt, your money or your life." Wesley got down from his horse, emptied his pockets to reveal only a handful of coins. He even invited the robber to search his saddlebags - which only carried his books. In disgust, the thief was turning away when John Wesley cried "Stop, I have something more to give you." Puzzled, the robber turned back. Wesley then leaned towards him and said "My friend, you may live to regret this sort of life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this: ’The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sin.’"
The robber hurried silently away, but Wesley got back on his horse & rode on his way praying in his heart that the word might be fixed in the robber’s conscience.
Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, a stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with John Wesley. Wesley recognized him as the robber who had stolen from him so long before, but now he was a well to do tradesman and better still, a child of God. Raising Wesley’s hand to his lips he affectionately kissed it and sad in deep emotion, "To you, dear sir, I owe it all." Wesley replied softly, "Nay, nay, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin."
2. The story of salvation history is a story of grace.
A. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
B. Salvation history is a story of how we rebelled against God.
C. It's a story of how we turned away and did our own thing.
D. It's a story of how God didn't give us what we did deserve, but rather gave what we didn't deserve.
E. It's a story of how God loved us in spite of our sin.
F. It's a story of how God saved not because of what we had done, but rather because of what Jesus did for us.
Transition: The ultimate point of salvation history is it is...
III. Fulfilled In Jesus (23-31).
A. Promised Savior Of Israel
1. Paul now demonstrates that Jesus is the culmination of salvation history.
2. He says, “And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! 24 Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized. 25 As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’"
A. A large jump over Old Testament history occurred here, as Paul went from King David directly to one of his descendants, Jesus.
B. Paul described Jesus as God’s promised Savior of Israel. This is the only place recorded in Acts where Paul called Jesus “Savior.” (Barton, 519).
C. John the Baptist's ministry was well known to Jews everywhere, as well as his denial of being the one to come, the promised Messiah and Savior.
D. John's testimony to Jesus was therefore important. For John to say that he was not worthy to take off the sandals of the one to come, a most menial service, indicates how far above him John considered Jesus (Horton, 242).
3. Then Paul addresses them personally by saying, “Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us!
27 The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. 28 They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway."
A. Paul emphasizes that this message of salvation was sent out to them personally (through those commissioned by the Lord Jesus), and not only to the Jews present, but to the Gentile God-fearers among them as well (Horton, 243).
B. Paul shows that the death of Jesus was the fulfillment of God's prophetic Word.
C. God ordained it and Jerusalem dwellers and their rulers carried it out.
D. It is important to notice here that Paul didn't blame Jesus' death on the Jews in general, but only on those in Jerusalem who were actually involved.
E. He also recognizes that they did it because they were ignorant of Him and of the voices of the prophets read every Sabbath (in their synagogues).
F. Although translated "did not recognize," the Greek used here (agnoēsantes) sometimes implies willful ignorance or a deliberate ignoring of the truth.
G. Since they did know these prophecies, willful ignorance is indeed meant here.
H. Paul also says they found "no proper ground" for a death sentence on Jesus, yet "they asked Pilate to have him executed"(Horton, 243-244).
4. Paul then concludes his message to them by saying, “When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead! 31 And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel."
A. In their blindness they killed Jesus because they had refused to believe that he was their Messiah—all the while fulfilling the Scriptures about the death of their Messiah!
B. But after the prophecies of Christ's death were fulfilled, they took him from the "tree" and "laid Him in a tomb."
C. But the tomb was not the end of the story. In this note of triumph, Paul reported what most would think impossible—God raised him from the dead.
D. Without the Resurrection, there would be no gospel, no salvation, no Good News to spread.
E. But Paul, though he had not been among the apostles to witness the Resurrection, had seen the risen Christ and, thus, could testify to the truth of this statement.
F. The credibility of the Resurrection had also been affirmed by witnesses who had seen the resurrected Christ over a period of many days (Barton, 519).
G. In fact, there is more substantiated proof for the Resurrection of Jesus than any other event in history!
B. Fulfillment Of History
1. Illustration: Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous, History of Rome, and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This great scholar said:
"I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead."
2. How are we going to respond to the death and resurrection of Jesus?
A. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21 (NLT)
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.
B. Facts require a response. If there is evidence to convict someone of murder they are sentenced for their crime.
C. If there is evidence for a scientific discovery it is written about and changes the way we look at that particular discovery.
D. Therefore, since there is so much evidence to support the resurrection as the culmination of salvation history we must respond to it.
E. We must deal with Jesus and either receive him as Lord of our lives or reject him and accept the consequences.
F. How are you going to respond to the resurrection?
Conclusion
1. In Paul's sermon in Antioch of Pisidia he spoke about the History of Salvation.
2. Salvation history is...
A. Based On Scripture
B. Based On Rebellion
C. Fulfilled In Jesus
3. It has been said that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it.
4. Well in the case of salvation history there will be no repeating it for it was once for all. If we don't get it right this time there will be no second chance. You must accept it in this life or face the consequences in the next.
5. What will you do with Jesus?
