Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Acts 17:17-31.
And when they had appointed him a day, there came
many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of
God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of
the prophets, from morning till evening (Acts 28:23).
As Paul was under house arrest in Rome, a day was
appointed for the Jews of that city to come and hear him speak to them concerning
Christianity, which they knew only as a “sect” which everywhere was “spoken
against” (v. 22).
In v. 23b we have a summary of Paul’s preaching
on this occasion. It is both descriptive, telling us what Paul said that
day, and prescriptive, telling us what should always be the content of Christian
preaching. Luke tells us here that Paul addressed two related subjects from one
source (Scripture):
First, he “expounded and testified the kingdom of
God.” Matthew summarized the preaching of the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew
4:17b as, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of God is
the rule and reign of God. With the coming of Christ in the flesh, God’s rule broke
into this world. When he comes again with power and glory that kingdom will
triumph over all.
Second, he was “persuading them concerning Jesus,
both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets.”
What did he have to say about the Lord Jesus? No
doubt, he proclaimed the gospel (Good News) about Christ. What is the core of
gospel proclamation? Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and resurrection
appearances (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).
This is consistent with what Paul preached at
Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:27-30), and it is consistent with what Paul preached
before Agrippa in Acts 26, “that Christ should suffer, and that he should be
the first that should rise from the dead” (26:23).
The standard for faithful Christian preaching has not changed in
2,000 years: Proclaim from the Scriptures the death of Christ on the cross for
sinners and his glorious resurrection so that all who trust in him might walk in
newness of life.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
.jpg)
Image: Knock-out rose, North Garden, Virginia, August 2023.
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Acts 26.
Then
Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian (Acts
26:28).
Paul
began his apologetic sermon before the Jewish king Agrippa by saying “wherefore
I beseech thee to hear me patiently” (Acts 26:3b). This is a plea with which
every Christian preacher should begin his sermon.
Paul
noted that before his Damascus Road conversion he too “thought with myself,
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (v. 9).
He then preached to the king from Scripture that “Christ should suffer, and
that he should be the first to rise from the dead, and that he should show light
unto the people [his fellow Jews], and to the Gentiles” (v. 23).
The Roman
governor Festus, however, interrupted “with a loud voice” (v. 24a), and said, “Paul
thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad” (v. 24b).
We
should note that Paul had used the same language of “madness” to describe his
irrational hated of Christ and his followers while he was yet unconverted. He
had been “exceedingly mad” against Christians (v. 11). To the Christian, his
old life seems mad and his new life in Christ sane, but unbelievers will often
see it the other way around.
Paul
responds by saying, “I am not mad… but speak forth the words of truth and
soberness” (v. 25).
Paul then
turns again to the Jewish king Agrippa, appealing to his knowledge of these
things (v. 26). Paul begins spiritually to examine the king, probing his
conscience, “believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest” (v. 27).
Agrippa’s
response, however, is one of the saddest in Scripture, akin to the rich young
ruler who went away “sorrowful” from Christ, “for he had great possessions”
(Matthew 19:22).
Agrippa
responds, “Almost thou persuadeth me to be a Christian” (v. 28). The term “Christian”
had first been used at Antioch to describe the followers of the Lord Jesus
(11:26).
Agrippa
declares himself to be an almost persuaded hearer of the gospel.
Paul’s
response in v. 29, in turn, is truly astounding. He declares that he wishes
that not only Agrippa but all who heard him that day would become as he was,
that is, indeed, a Christian, a follower of Christ, a believer in him, except
for his chains.
The
irony is that spiritually speaking, the prisoner was free, and his wardens were
imprisoned.
There
are, no doubt, some who regularly attend upon the preaching of the gospel who are
still what we might call “almost persuaded hearers.” Let such ones not
perpetuate the error of Agrippa, but let them, by grace, be sanctified by
faith, repent of their sin, and turn to Christ, producing the works meet or
fitting for repentance (cf. vv. 18, 20).
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Note: I am what is called a “manuscript preacher.” That is, I generally write out a complete manuscript for each sermon I preach, even if I do not always rigidly follow it. Last Sunday the sound recorder malfunctioned, and we did not get an audio recording of the sermon, so I decided to post my sermon manuscript in full.
Paul in Athens
Acts 17:16-34
CRBC August 6, 2023
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens his spirit was
stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry” (Acts 17:16).
A couple of Sundays ago we completed an extended series of
sermons from beginning to ending of the Gospel of Matthew.
Soon we will begin another series through Genesis 1-11.
In the meantime, however, we have been looking at a few
selections in the book of Acts.
It makes sense to look at Acts after working through Matthew,
because Acts tells us about the growth and expansion of the church founded by
Christ after the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus.
It was even written by Luke, the beloved physician, who also wrote the Gospel
of Luke.
I’ve suggested that Christ’s words to the disciples just
before he ascended in Acts 1:8 serve as a kind of outline for Acts, as we see
the apostles and those associated with them becoming witnesses for Christ in
Jerusalem, and Judea (Acts 2), in Samaria (Acts 8), and to “the uttermost part
of the earth.”
In Acts 17 we have a description of the gospel of Christ
going to one of those “uttermost” places, the ancient city of Athens in Greece.
The gospel is brought there by Paul (formerly Saul) on what
we sometimes call his second of three missionary journeys.
Athens was a city of learning and intellectual life. Many of
the great Greek philosophers had lived and taught in Athens, beginning about
300 years before the first advent of Christ (men like Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle).
Some of the men of Athens were brilliant thinkers who delighted
in doing nothing else but seeking and discussing knowledge. Athens was also a
very “religious” city, as were most of the ancient cities of Greece and Rome.
Whatever their intellectual or religious life, Paul came to them with a simple
message that applies to all men whatever their station in life. He spoke to
them of Christ, of his resurrection from the dead, and of his coming again to
judge the world in righteousness.
In Acts 17 we get to hear Luke’s account of Paul’s visit to
this great city, so that we might consider how the Lord is being pleased to
present before us in our times his gospel.
I.
Exposition:
First: Paul’s arrival and his preliminary ministry in
Athens (vv. 16-22):
We begin, “Now while Paul waited for them in Athens…” (v.
16).
Remember Paul is on his second missionary journey. He has
earlier ministered in Philippi (ch. 16). Then he had moved on to Thessalonica
where for “three sabbath days” he “reasoned with them out of the scriptures”
(17:2). After a great uproar in that city (see 17:5-9), Paul had gone to Berea
(v. 10), where his teaching was initially well received (vv. 11-12). But soon
the same ones who had caused trouble at Thessalonica also came to Berea to stir
up problems, so Silas and Timothy sent Paul ahead to Athens (see vv. 13-15).
So, Paul was supposed to be waiting quietly for Silas and
Timothy. But Paul apparently could not sit still. Why? In v. 16 it says, “his
spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.”
As I said, Athens was little different than all the other
Greek and Roman cities. They were polytheists. They worshipped many gods. As
one wag has put it, “The ancient pagans never met a god they would not
worship.” Paul, however, had been raised as a monotheistic Jews, believing in
the one God Almighty and true God of the Bible, the great I am. He knew the
first commandment: No gods before God. He knew the shema (Deut 6:4: “Hear, O
Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.”).
Being in Athens no doubt reminded Paul of the depths of
lostness that was all around him, and, most importantly, it provoked in him a
zeal for the honor of the one true God, of whom these men were ignorant.
I remember when we went to China to add my youngest son to
our family. It was one of the first times I witnessed outright paganism as we
visited a Buddhist shrine and saw people bowing down to idols! We even saw a
mother teaching her small child how to bow to an idol! It was so striking,
because I knew we would be “indoctrinating” our child in a very different
manner.
Paul could not just sit still in Athens while he waited for
his colleagues, so we read in v. 17 of his ministry in two places:
First, “he disputed [dialegomai, discussed or
preached] in the synagogues with the Jews, and with the devout persons [this
likely means Gentile proselytes or God-fearers, like the Ethiopian Eunuch or
Cornelius the Centurion]…” (v. 17a). This was part of Paul’s modus operandi,
his way of operating. He would start in the synagogue or Jewish places of
prayer (cf. at Pisidian Antioch, 13:14; at Iconium, 14:1; at Philippi, 16:13;
at Thessalonica and Berea, 17:1-2, 10).
Second, at Athens, however, he also went into the agora
or marketplace, and there were those who met with him daily, and we can assume
it likely that many if not most of these were pagan Gentiles (v. 17b). The
gospel is moving further out.
In v. 18 Luke mentions Paul’s encounter with members of two
different philosophical sects.
First, the Epicureans. These were the followers of Epicurus.
They sought to find meaning and purpose in life by the pursuit of pleasure. The
English word epicurean (the inclination to indulge in sensual pleasures) has
come into our language from them. For the ancients it was wine, women, and song
(or today: sex, drugs, and rock and roll). In its more sophisticated forms,
however, it focused on intellectual pleasures. They believed that the blessed
life was one without pain or fear. This led them to atheism. If there is no God
(or gods) to fear their wrath, you will be happy. So they rejected God (or
gods).
Second, Stoics. They followed a man named Zeno who had taught
in a great lecture hall called the Stoa. They sought to find meaning and
purpose in life by overcoming one’s passions. One must show complete mastery
over all his emotions and actions and be indifferent to all outward
circumstances. One famous Stoic philosopher was a slave named Epictetus, who
was often depicted in art as having a crutch, because it was said that his
master deliberately broke his leg to test his servants apathy, but Epictetus
had such self-mastery that he never uttered a word or cry of pain.
These pagans did not understand Paul’s teaching. Some said,
“What will this babbler [spermalogos: one who spits words like seed!]
say?”
They thought he was promoting “some strange gods,” because he
talked about Jesus and the resurrection.
This tells us Paul was preaching Christ and him crucified and
raised (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-5), but these foolish pagans were so ignorant of the
truth they thought he was talking of two gods (one named Jesus and the other
named Anastasis or Resurrection).
Then in v. 19 we read that they took Paul, almost like a
press gang, and compelled him to go to a place called the Areopagus (literally,
the hill of Ares or Mars, the god of war, because in their mythology Ares had
been tried there for a crime by the other gods), a rock-outcropping still
visible today. In those times it was a place for debate or contention.
They wanted to know the “new doctrine” or new teaching [didache]
that Paul was bringing (v. 19b).
In v. 20 they express further their curiosity about Paul’s
teaching since it arrives as something “strange” to their ears. At first blush
this might seem very commendable. They were a curious people. They wanted to
learn. They were open-minded.
Luke makes clear, however, in v. 21 that not all of this was
spiritually healthy. He says that the Athenians and the “strangers” (or
foreigners) in Athens, “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell,
or to hear some new thing.”
This is the love for novelty. The love for the newest, the
latest, the most recent. This spirit drives most things in academics. You don’t
get a graduate degree for saying what everyone has already said or believed but
by proposing something new.
I heard a missionary once say that an open mind is like an
open mouth. If it never clamps down on nourishing food, it will starve the body
to death.
Paul once described to Timothy some of the men who were
resisting his ministry as being:
2
Timothy 3: 7 Ever learning, and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist
the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
When one first hears the gospel, it is right to take time to
consider and to fully understand and to investigate. But there must come a time
when one moves from hearing about the truth to receiving the truth by faith and
believing in it.
Someone might read lots of books about fishing and learn about all
kinds of aspects of fishing and great fishermen of the past, and various
theories of fishing. But at some point, he has to move from learning about
fishing to actually fishing!
Second: Paul’s preaching at Mar’s Hill (vv. 22-31):
It begins, “Then Paul
stood in the midst of Mar’s hill…” (v. 22). This recalls Peter’s standing to
preach at Pentecost in Acts 2:14: “But Peter, standing up with the eleven,
lifted up his voice…” And it recalls Philip preaching to the Ethiopian (8:35:
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture and preached
unto him Jesus.”).
This is yet another
description and prescription of preaching as the revealed means that God is
pleased to use to draw men to himself (cf. 1 Cor 1:21: “it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”). It is a fallible and
imperfect man—in this case, a man who had once hated Christ and persecuted his
people—who now stands to speak of Christ and to commend him to others.
Here Paul addresses
the pagan Athenians, “Ye men of Athens.” He is not speaking to Jews, as did
Peter, or a God-fearer, as did Philip, but to outright pagans. And so this will
to some degree (but not radically) affect his message.
He begins by noting
his observations of their outward religiosity or “superstitiousness” (v. 22b).
Some render this as, “I see that you are very religious.”
Paul will later write
to his fellow Jews in Romans 10:2 that they had a zeal for God but without
knowledge. This could certainly also be said of the Athenian pagans.
They had all the signs
of religion, all the forms of religion, without any true knowledge of God.
Paul says in v. 23
that as he passed through the city he noticed their “devotions” and he says he
found one idol that even had the inscription, “To the unknown god.” They were
apparently trying to cover all their bases. We worship all the gods, but in
case we forgot one of them or in case one had not yet fully revealed himself to
them, we also worship him.
Paul then says, “Whom
therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you.” In other words, I am
going to reveal to you, declare to you, this God that you kind-of, sort-of,
know is there but cannot identify so that you might know and worship him with
understanding.
Paul then offers what
we might call a three-point sermon:
First point: God’s
creation of the world (vv. 24-25):
Again, he is speaking
to men who are complete pagans. Thus Paul begins with the most foundational
thing he can. God made the world in the space of six days and all very good.
God is other than creation (a rejection of pantheism). He is over creation. He
is Lord of creation. We do not worship creation, but we worship the Creator.
So Paul begins, “God
that made the earth…” (v.24). He closes by noting that this almighty and
powerful creator God does not dwell in temples made with hands.
By first addressing
God as Creator Paul is also demolishing the theology and practices of ancient
paganism. They thought God could be domesticated and controlled by their
actions in the temple. Give him offerings and he has to treat you right, and he
is visible in an idol in the temple.
Paul declares,
however, that the one true God is too great, too holy, too powerful, too
massive ever to dwell in something as puny as a temple. The whole earth cannot
contain his glory, much less a pipsqueak temple!
He adds that the one
true God is not worshipped with men’s hands (v. 25). He does not need anything
from anyone or anything, much less from us. This is what the theologians call
the doctrine of aseity, the doctrine of the self-satisfaction and independence
of God. He was not lonely when he made this world and all that is in it. He
made it out of an overflow of his abundance, not from any need in him.
God does not depend
upon his worshippers, but his worshippers depend, for all things, upon him.
Paul asserts God’s
aseity, “seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (v. 25). We
are only living today, drawing breath, because gives it to us, day by day,
moment by moment. Every beat of our heart, every breath taken should remind us
of how absolutely dependent we are upon him for all things.
Second Point: God made
men of all nations to seek and know him (vv. 26-29):
Paul moves from
creation in general to the special creation of man (humanity). There is
something different about us. As it says of man in Psalm 8:
Psalm 8: 5 For thou hast made him a
little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou
hast put all things under his feet:
Here Paul stresses
that God made from one blood (from the blood of one man, the first man Adam and
his wife Eve) all the nations (ethne) of men to dwell on the earth (v.
26). He adds that he has set out the habitations for each of these nations.
Furthermore, he has
purposed that they should “seek the Lord, if haply the might feel after him,
and find him, though he be not far from every one of us” (v. 27).
The language of
“feeling after” evokes the idea of searching in the dark or with the vision
obstructed. Imagine playing a game in the dark and the person you are seeking
is right there, but you cannot find him because you do not see him. Then the
lights are turned on and there he is, not far from you the whole time.
To further his point in
v. 28 Paul quotes two pagan philosophers or poets, as he calls them.
He begins, “For in him
we live, and move, and have our being.” This is apparently from the Cretan
writer Epimenides.
He then writes, “as
certain of your poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” This apparently
comes from a man named Aratus from Cilicia, Paul’s home province where Tarsus
stood.
Here Paul is using
secular philosophers, known to his audience, to convince them of Biblical
ideas. Note he did not begin here. He began with Genesis, with creation. But
now he says that there are some things even pagans intuitively know. There is a
God, and our lives depend upon him. We come from him. He made us, and, in this
sense, we are his offspring.
Later Paul will write:
Romans 2: 14 For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having
not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or
else excusing one another;)
These citations would be examples of men feeling about in the
dark, groping after God, even while not fully knowing or understanding him.
He adds that given we have even this rudimentary knowledge that we
are the offspring, the creations of this almighty God we should know that he
cannot be reduced to the idol or graven image made of gold or silver or stone
“by man’s device” (v. 29). The second commandment is written on our hearts.
Third point: The full revelation has come in Christ who will one
day judge the whole earth (vv. 30-31):
Paul begins by noting
that “the times of ignorance” that his pagan audience has previously lived
under with all their mistaken notions of who God is, where he dwells, and how
he is to be served, God, in his mercy was willing to “wink at” (literally to hyper-orao,
to overlook).
Now all things have
changed with the coming of Christ. Now God commands (not requests) that all men
every where (Jew and Gentile, universally) must repent (experience a change of
mind and heart as they acknowledge sinful ignorance and turn unto God through
Christ in faith).
Paul then moves on to
judgement (v. 31). I think he does so to grasp the attention of his hearers.
God has appointed a day to judge the world in righteous by Christ, the man whom
he hath ordained. Christ will come again in glory, and all men will be
evaluated based on how they have responded to Christ. Compare:
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Matthew 10: 32 Whosoever therefore shall
confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in
heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny
before my Father which is in heaven.
And God has assured men that this is the way all things will end
by raising Christ from the dead.
So ends Paul’s three-point sermon in Athens.
Third: The Response to Paul’s Sermon (vv. 32-34):
Every time Christ is preached there is a response. It is either a
response of faith and belief and trust in Christ, or it is a response of
disregard, unbelief, and spurning of Christ.
Three responses are described here:
First,
those who mocked when they heard of the resurrection (v. 32a);
Second,
those not convinced but willing to hear more at another time (v. 32b).
At this Paul departed (v. 33).
But finally we hear of the response of faith (v. 34). Most notably a man named Dionysius the
Areopagite (likely one much engaged previously in these philosophical
conversations) and a woman named Damaris. Luke is careful throughout Acts to
note how the gospel comes both to men and women, and he often provides
representative examples of each in such pairs.
These were not all, for Luke adds, “but others with them.” Not all
believe but some do. They include men and women. The vast number will not be
known or remembered by men but they are known by God. See the Bluegrass Gospel song,
“There’s a Record Book” which begins:
To be well known of men
I may not ever be
I'm sure my name will not
Go down in history
There'll be no marble plaque
To tell of my good deeds
Nor any great parades
To honor me
But there's a Record Book
My name is written in
It was recorded there
When I was born again
No one can blot it out
It's sealed for evermore
It's in that Book of Life
Kept by the Lord
II.
Application:
We today stand at our own Mar’s Hill.
Some have been always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.
Christ has been put before us. Only he can give true meaning and purpose to our
existence. What we knew intuitively has been revealed to us and made known. God
will one day judge us on how we have responded to Christ. Will we follow in the
path of those who mock or those who trust Christ by faith?
JTR
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Acts 8:26-40 (Audio not yet posted).
And the
angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto
the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert (Acts 8:26).
Acts 8
describes how the Ethiopian Eunuch was converted and baptized. The first thing
we see, however, is that God was at work through his angel to direct these
circumstances.
Who was
Philip? This was the man who would be the instrument of bringing the gospel the
Ethiopian He was the human means.
Philip was
an apostolic associate. He was one of the seven men who had been set apart in
Jerusalem to minister to the Greek-speaking widows in the church in Jerusalem
(see Acts 6:1-7). Notice that Philip was listed second among the seven after
Stephen, who would be the first martyr (6:5). This tells us of his standing and
esteem among the apostles.
After the
death of Stephen, the church at Jerusalem was persecuted and “scattered abroad”
under the direction of Saul (8:1, 3). To persecute the church, however, was
like throwing water on a grease fire. It only spread the gospel further (8:4).
As one early Christian write would later put it, “The blood of the martyrs is
the seedbed of the church.”
In God’s
good providence, it was Philip who took the gospel first to Samaria in
fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy in 1:8 (see 8:5-6, 12). After the Ethiopian’s
conversion he would eventually come to Caesarea (8:40). Later in Acts 21, we read
of his ministry in that city and that he was known as Philip “the evangelist” (vv.
8-9). He also had four virgin daughter who prophesied, thus fulfilling Peter’s
Pentecost prophesy in Acts 2:17, “and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy.”
Philip was
the divinely directed tool in God’s hands for the Ethiopian’s conversion. If
you want to get a job done you have the have the right tools, whether a
surgeon, a mechanic, a seamstress, a cook, or a contractor. The Lord always
chooses the proper instruments he desires to achieve his purposes.
Philip was
directed by the angel to go to the way (road) that led from Jerusalem to Gaza,
a place that was a desert (v. 26). I wonder if Philip might have questioned the
Lord’s wisdom here. Why not send him to the populous cities? Why send him to
the desert?
Nevertheless,
in v. 27a we have a report of Philip’s obedience: “And he arose and went.” The
Lord was indeed also sending the Ethiopian to that same place for Philip to
encounter him.
Have you
ever questioned God’s direction of your life? Does it seem he has sent you to
the desert rather than where you “ought”—in your mind—to be? Recall Jeremiah’s
word of the LORD to his servant Baruch, “And seekest thou great things for
thyself? Seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5).
Let us obey
the Lord’s commands and directions so that we might be an instrument in his
hands.
Grace and
peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Browsing the book table at the Banner of Truth Ministers' Conference in Elizabethtown, Pa. this evening. Picked up J. A. Alexander's Acts volume in the Geneva Commentary series and glanced at his commentary on Acts 8:37 defending its authenticity.
JTR
Image: Golden Euonymous, North Garden, Virginia, April 2021.
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Acts 13.
But God raised him
from the dead (Acts 13:30).
In
Acts 13 Luke records the sermon preached by Paul in the synagogue of Pisidian
Antioch.
The
center of Paul’s message is the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v. 28 Paul stresses the innocence of Christ. No legitimate
“cause” was found for putting him to death: “And though no cause of death was
found in him...” Pilate washed his hands and said, “I am innocent of the blood
of the just person” (Matt 27:24). Even one of the thieves crucified alongside
Christ recognized Christ’s innocence and was converted, telling his fellow
malefactor that they were being crucified “justly” for their crimes, “but this
man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:41).
In v. 29 Paul emphasizes the fact that even the wicked
actions of the men who crucified Christ served to fulfill the Scriptures: “And
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him….” By placing Christ on the
tree (the cross) where he died and then having his body being placed in the
tomb, Christ was not defeated, but Scripture was fulfilled.
Here is something that ought to comfort us in our distress.
The more wicked men attempt to oppose God and harm his people, the more they
fulfill his word and hasten the Lord’s ultimate victory.
It seemed that evil had triumphed. Christ had died and been
placed in the tomb. Then, we come to v. 30: “But God raised him from the dead.”
If there had been no crucifixion, there would have been no resurrection. If
there had been no death, there would have been no life. Had there been no
defeat, there would have been no victory.
Notice that Paul also stresses the resurrection appearances
(v. 31: “And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem….”).
The sermon at Pisidian Antioch, follows the outline of the gospel
Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8: Christ’s death on the cross, his burial,
his glorious resurrection, and his resurrection appearances.
This remains the standard for faithful preaching of the gospel
to the present hour.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
