2013 Acts #21: an exposition of Acts 13:13-52. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, October 13, 2013.
Intro:
We are excited around our house, we’ve got two more grandkids on the way. In just a few months we’ll have 6! Isn’t that wonderful? The announcement of a birth is worth getting excited about. I mean that’s good news everyone wants to share. “Have you heard? So and so is having a baby!” Strange as it seems, not everyone wants to hear about it. We’ve all had those times when we’ve been cornered by a new mother or grandmother who “just happened to have some pictures of the baby.” You reluctantly agree to view them only to find out she’s got about a thousand pictures. I have to admit I’m not a baby person. Sometimes I see a new mother with her baby and I want to say, “lady I think you should have left your pet monkey outside.” I’m not sure how it happened but I’ve become one of those annoying grandfathers. Having an iPhone doesn’t help. In my photos I have hundreds of pictures and quite a few videos. “Oh and look at this one.” “Isn’t that the same as the last 12 your showed me?” “No, look. See how her eyebrow is arched in this one? Completely different. And he has a stick in his hand in that one.” Grandparents can be annoying but there is something about good news – it must be told.
So it is with the Gospel. The Gospel is good news. In fact it is the best news. It is the glorious message of how God, because he loves, gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes would not perish but would have everlasting life. The Gospel says to us, “If you come to God on His terms He will not be mad at you anymore.” It is wonderful news. It is a message of love and hope – but not everyone is excited about it. Not everyone wants to hear it. What are we to do? How are we to respond? For some answers we turn to the 13th chapter of Acts.
Text: Acts 13:13-52
Dr. Luke is in the process of telling us about the on-going work of Jesus through his church. He is telling of the spread of the Gospel from the city of Jerusalem out into Judea, spilling over into Samaria on its way to the ends of the earth. God providential moved the church along using the hatred and animosity of the church’s enemies in spreading the message of the church around the world. Though seeking to silence the church they amplified its voice.
A constant note sounded throughout the book of Acts is the boldness of the church. This boldness is not a simple matter of determination. It is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit enabling those early believers to stand in the face of overwhelming opposition. It enabled them to defy local authorities in spite of threats, persecution and even martyrdom.
In the early part of this chapter we find the historical account of the beginning of the mission movement. While the church in Antioch was engaged in worship the Holy Spirit set apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work among the Gentiles. After prayer and the laying on of hands they departed from Antioch for Cyprus. After success on the isle of Cyprus the Spirit moved them toward Antioch in Pisidia. This Antioch was the most important city of southern Galatia and all of Asia Minor. Antioch was a metropolitan city drawing on Jewish, Roman, Greek and Oriental culture. As the story unfolds we are once again reminded that:
Thesis: Believers are to lovingly, passionately and, faithfully preach Christ at every opportunity.
There are three things I want to call to your attention from this text this morning.
- Believers must seize every opportunity to preach Christ. (13:13-41)
- Believers must call for a response. (13:38-50a)
- Believers find strength, encouragement and refreshment not as a result of their “success” but as the fruit of their obedience. (13:50-52)
Conclusion:
God has graciously found us in sin and offered us life eternal and life abundant. God, because he loves, has provided the means for our reconciliation. And then wonder of wonders – he has given this ministry of reconciliation to us. It demands that we seize every opportunity to preach Christ. That we faithfully, passionately call for a response and that we find our encouragement not in the response of the crowd but in our Father’s pleasure in our obedience.
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