A People That Point July 7, 2019
Overview
A People That Point
At the close of his sermon in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch Acts 13:38-41, Paul brings the whole sweep of Israel's story to its sharpest point: Jesus. After rehearsing God's provision for His people and the promise made through David's line, Paul declares that every promise of God finds its "Yes" in Christ 2 Corinthians 1:20. Jesus is the promise made and the promise fulfilled, and Paul drives this home not with novel ideas but by anchoring everything in Scripture.
The sermon culminates in four gospel notes: forgiveness, Jesus, freedom, and grace. It is worth pausing on the word gospel itself—euangelion, "good news." When we hear someone say "the gospel was preached" but walk away only with the weight of our sin, we have heard law, not gospel. Knowing our sin alone is never good news; knowing the Savior who covers our sin is. Paul says forgiveness "is proclaimed" (an ongoing action) "to you" (not a distant us)—a personal word from a personal God, fulfilling Luke 24:47.
Freedom, then, is not wishful thinking but the rendering of righteousness: "by this Jesus everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses." It is tempting to compare ourselves favorably to others or, like David in Psalm 51:3, to be crushed by sin "ever before" us. But Romans 3:10-20 levels the field—no one is righteous, and no one is justified by works of the law. Galatians 3:21-24 tells us why: the law was our guardian until Christ, so that righteousness comes by faith—itself a gift. As Romans 5:8 reminds us, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Stop climbing a ladder that isn't there. You are free in Christ.
Paul ends with a warning from Habakkuk 1:5 not to scoff at this work of God, and then urges hearers to "continue in the grace of God" Acts 13:43. That is our calling too. Having been forgiven, freed, and held in mercy, we are a people who point—pointing to Christ, to the forgiveness He proclaims, to the freedom He secures, and to the grace in which we now stand. The harvest is plentiful; go and proclaim the good news.
Transcript
So as I said, we are right at the tail end of Paul's sermon. 0s
And we have studied for the past couple of weeks. 5s
This sermon of Paul's, he was invited to proclaim a word. 10s
He's in a synagogue and they ask him to speak. 15s
And so he does. 20s
And he speaks a lot. 23s
He speaks a powerful, powerful word. 26s
He begins by pointing out the provision of God. 30s
He points out the guidance, the protection, the lordship, 36s
the care that God has provided to the Israelite people 43s
throughout the centuries, throughout their time as his chosen people. 47s
And then he shifts into a promise. 53s
If you look at verse 23, it's the promise that of this man of David, 57s
of David's offspring, God has brought to Israel a Savior. 63s
Jesus as he promised that is the culmination of the provision 68s
that God was delivering. 73s
It is Jesus Christ. 76s
And he spoke of the promise that is fulfilled in Jesus. 78s
If you recall every single promise in Scripture has Jesus Christ at the foundation, 84s
as it's basis, in second Corinthians, it says for the Son of God, 91s
Jesus Christ, whom we proclaim to among you, was not yes and no, 96s
but in Him, it is always yes. 101s
For all the promises of God find their yes in Him. 105s
Jesus is that promise made. 113s
Jesus is that promise fulfilled. 116s
And Paul pointed this out. 120s
Pointed out Jesus as that promise made and fulfilled by turning to Scripture. 123s
He wasn't coming up with an idea on his own because it sounded good. 129s
He was turning to the Jewish Scripture to point to the very fact 133s
that Jesus is the promised Messiah. 139s
He was connecting all the dots for his Jewish heroes. 142s
For his Gentile heroes. 149s
He was connecting all those dots. 152s
He was pointing out that they had not recognized Jesus as the Messiah. 154s
And so they were the fulfillment of Scripture themselves by rejecting Christ. 161s
Up to this point, Paul has been proclaiming the provision of the Lord. 170s
He's been proclaiming the promise of the Lord. 175s
And now he's going to circle back to lay it all out to preach the gospel. 178s
He wraps it up with an exhortation. 186s
It's an appeal. 189s
It's an urgent appeal encouraging his listeners to turn to Jesus. 190s
He highlights four points of the gospel. 198s
He highlights forgiveness. 202s
Jesus, freedom, and grace. 205s
And I want to take just a moment to tangent and talk about gospel. 210s
The word gospel or preaching the gospel gets tossed out there a lot. 216s
Oh, I heard the gospel preached. 222s
But it's not quite necessarily understood what gospel is. 225s
Gospel in the Greek text is, and I got to look at this, youongeily on. 230s
And if you are a Greek scholar and I'm mispronouncing it, sorry. 235s
Youongeily on. 239s
And it means good news. 241s
And I bring this up because so often when we hear that the gospel is preached, 243s
what we're actually hearing is law preached. 248s
Oh, he preached the gospel. 252s
He told me I'm a sinner. 253s
There's no good news in that. 256s
When I hear of my sin, I know that that's deserving of wrath. 258s
That's deserving of condemnation. 263s
And that is not good news. 265s
Gospel, good news. 267s
Youongeily on is freedom. 270s
It is Christ. 274s
It is promise. 275s
That is good news. 277s
Never, never turn a law into gospel because a law is never good news. 281s
Knowing of our sin is never good news. 289s
Knowing of our Savior who covers our sin. 292s
That is gospel. 296s
So here at the end of Paul's sermon, he is going to preach the gospel. 298s
He is going to bring it all home. 302s
And this is where we begin with that first point of the gospel forgiveness, 305s
verse 38, look with me, please. 311s
Let it be known to you, therefore, my brothers, 314s
that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 317s
And I love this word for proclaimed. 323s
It's an ongoing action. 327s
It's not a once done. 329s
You've heard it once, so now it's done. 331s
It's never proclaimed to you again. 333s
You are never going to receive forgiveness again. 334s
It's an ongoing thing. 337s
They are currently hearing the proclaimed forgiveness to them. 338s
It was a forgiveness of their sin in that moment being proclaimed to them. 344s
In verses 32 and 33, if you jump up a little bit, it says, 351s
we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 356s
he has fulfilled to us. 362s
I want you to notice that little shift in pronouns, 366s
the forgiveness that God promised, it's not for a distant us or a distant we. 371s
When we hear a forgiveness of our sin, 380s
sometimes we can distance ourselves for that and say, 384s
oh, well, the hour doesn't really include me. 388s
The we doesn't really include me, but Paul shifts it. 391s
He makes a pronoun change and he says this forgiveness of sin is being proclaimed to you. 396s
We don't have a distant God. 406s
We have a very personal God who wants to personally deliver that forgiveness of sin to you. 409s
And this proclaimed word is a fulfillment of Luke 2447, 421s
where it says repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name, 428s
in the name of Christ, to all nations beginning from Jerusalem, 433s
Paul was in a synagogue and he was preaching to the Jewish people. 439s
He was preaching to the God fears which are Gentiles who had converted to Judaism. 443s
He was preaching to them, but we know that that preached word is first to the Jew and then to the 450s
end of the earth. So he's fulfilling the call of Acts 1-8 to be a witness in Jerusalem, 457s
Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 471s
Forgiveness is a word delivered. If they word proclaimed, it's delivered through one man, 475s
Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, the promise of the Lord, we move to verse 39. 484s
By this Jesus, everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed 496s
by the law of Moses. Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you by Jesus Christ, by the name, 503s
in the name of Jesus Christ and it is powerful, the name carries the power. The name of Christ 512s
proclaimed carries the power, power of forgiveness of sins. Paul has already laid out that foundation 521s
from scripture that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is the promised Savior from God. He is that 531s
made promise fulfilled and here he's reiterating that it is through Jesus that we are forgiven. 540s
All promises are fulfilled in Jesus. He was leading. Paul was leading through his sermon. He was 549s
leading the heroes through their people's story of relapse, retribution, repentance, and rescue. 558s
That cycle of the Jewish people falling into relapse, rejecting the Lord turning away from the Lord. 568s
The punishment from God, that retribution, the Israelites turning in repentance, and God, 578s
once again, rescuing them. And in Jesus, He has delivered that ultimate rescue, that ultimate 586s
promised. He points to what that promise means, which is forgiveness. And then Paul circles back. 595s
He circled back to whom by whom through whom this forgiveness is offered. Jesus. So he's 605s
starting this last part of his sermon pointing to this forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness and then 614s
pointing who does it come through? Jesus, I've taken you through this. I've laid out the steps. 621s
I've shown you how Christ is that promised promise fulfilled. And we're going to point right back to Jesus 628s
because it all ends or begins and ends at Christ. And what does Jesus bring? He brings forgiveness. 636s
And what does forgiveness mean? That everyone who believes, this is verse 39 again, 644s
everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law 651s
of Moses. Paul points to the freedom that is the forgiveness of sins. 658s
Everyone who believes is set free. Free. What does that even mean? And I'm going to tell you right 668s
now, we're going to park it right here on that word freedom for a minute because it is so, so 678s
important to understand it. Just like it's important to understand that gospel means good news. 684s
We need to know what freedom actually is. Freedom here in this text, in the Greek, it means 691s
that it's rendering righteousness. It's showing exhibiting, showing the real presence of one 701s
to be righteous, to be free. It sounds too good to be true. Or free? Or righteous? It doesn't seem 710s
possible. And a lot of times we got to be honest, we don't actually quite believe it. Do we? 725s
We may say, God has been with me always and then we still expect that he may turn his back on us 735s
in our last moments. That's not freedom, my friend. That is not freedom. And that's not what it is 743s
when we sit and contemplate our freedom from sin through Jesus Christ, when we sit and contemplate 751s
our mortality, we can look back over our years. And we can see every single sin that we have committed 760s
or we can see every good deed that we didn't do. And we sit in that, we sit, 774s
captivated, cleaning to the sin that we have. There's no freedom in that. That is not what we are 791s
called to sit in. That is not what we are called to contemplate. We think this freedom must be for 802s
someone else. This freedom is probably meant for my neighbor because they seem like they're doing 815s
pretty well. They seem like they're really living up to being a good person. But me, 823s
I know my sin. I know my sin and it's that heavy with me. It's that heavy. And I think of David 833s
in Psalm 51 where he says, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. 845s
And what we need to understand is that that confession, him, knowing his transgressions, 855s
David, knowing that his sin is ever before him. He is talking about adultery. He is talking about 862s
murder. He is talking about a cover-up deceitfulness, lying. That is the sin that David knows. 870s
That is what is ever before him. And now if it's you and me, we sit there and we go, 885s
whoop, not that guy, not that guy, maybe I'll get into heaven. Maybe I'll be freed from my sin. 893s
But we are in the same boat. We are in the exact same boat because we have all sined and all of 903s
sin is ever before us. But God forgave David. Through David, through his lineage, we have 912s
Christ. God used David in his work here on earth. And if God forgave David, an adulterer, a murderer, 924s
a deceiver, if he can forgive David, maybe he can forgive me. But I can't compare myself to David. 939s
Because I have my own sin that I need saving from. And I am saved from them. Just as you 951s
have your own sin, you need saving from. And you are saved from your sin. 958s
By this Jesus, everyone who believes is set free from all those sins, from which you could not 967s
be freed by the law of Moses. And that is the big issue. Where are you seeking your freedom? 975s
Are you seeking to be freed through the law? Are you seeking to be freed through your own 985s
good actions? Maybe I can measure up. I'm going to just tell you straight. Just stop it. Stop. 992s
Stop trying to seek forgiveness and freedom through the law because it's not going to happen. 1003s
The law is going to continually kill you over and over and over again. You cannot be set free 1009s
through or by the law. All right. This is the Bible flipping time. Open up to Romans 3. 1019s
Romans 3, which you're just going to go right to the next book after acts. 1027s
And we're starting just in the middle of verse 10. Romans 3, starting in the middle of verse 10, 1035s
there is no one who is righteous, not even one. There is no one who has understanding. 1042s
There is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside together. They have become worthless. 1050s
There is no one who shows kindness. There is not even one. Their throats are opened graves 1057s
that they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of viperes is under their lips. Their mouths are full 1065s
of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruined and misery are their paths 1071s
and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. 1077s
Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every 1083s
mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human being 1089s
will be justified in his sight by deeds prescribed by the law. For through the law comes knowledge 1096s
of sin. No one is righteous under the law. No one. We have all turned away. All of mankind has turned 1105s
from God. Has turned from the Lord. No one is righteous under the law. So stop trying to climb 1120s
the ladder to gain that righteousness. There is no ladder. Tallina. Hyena. Useable enough. 1127s
We don't climb a ladder to gain righteousness. If you think about it, when Paul's proclaiming 1139s
this word, he is preaching freedom. He's preaching freedom through the forgiveness of sin which 1144s
comes through the death, the blood of Jesus Christ, nowhere in there is a 12 step program for being 1152s
a better Christian. The 12 step program is just another feeble attempt to gain righteousness 1161s
under the law. We can't do it. We can't do it. Engelations 3 it says, if a law had been given 1170s
that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law, but the scripture 1181s
had imprisoned all things under the power of sin so that what was promised through faith in Jesus 1187s
Christ might be given to those who believe. In verse 24 it says, the law was our disciplinarian 1192s
until Christ came so that we may be justified. We may be made right by faith. 1200s
No one is freed from sin by being a good person. You are freed from sin by faith in Jesus Christ. 1210s
Unless you fret over whether or not your faith is big enough strong enough if you believe correctly 1220s
our faith itself is a gift from God. It is not ours to drum up and figure out it is a gift 1230s
that God graces us with. So how do I know that I'm freed from my sin? How do I know that I'm 1238s
saved? This is my favorite part of being in ministry because I told you, because I told you just as 1249s
Paul told his fears, the freedom, the forgiveness of sin and freedom. It's being proclaimed to you 1260s
right now. I can say to you, my brothers and sisters of living Word that the freedom from your sin 1269s
forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ is being proclaimed to you right here right now. You are free 1277s
in counsel a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about about raising our hands and giving 1289s
it an alleluia and an amen and we joked and I said, well, on the seven, the eyeballs are gone. So 1295s
that's when we'll do it. So I think we can also amen in alleluia. It is good news. It is gospel, 1301s
proclaimed. God proves his love for us and that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 1316s
While we were still sinners Christ died for us in Galatians it says, if justification or righteousness 1324s
were through the law then Christ died for no purpose. We can't find freedom through the law. We have 1331s
freedom through Christ. We have freedom through Christ proclaimed just awesome and that is why we had to 1339s
park it there because we need to have that freedom defined we need to know exactly what that means 1349s
for us. We're going to continue in our text of Acts 13 verse 40, beware therefore that what the 1358s
prophet said does not happen to you. Look you scoffers be amazed and perished for in your days 1368s
I am doing a work. A work that you will never believe even if someone tells you this is a reference 1375s
to have at one. It was a word that was given by the prophet to a very rebellious Judah. 1383s
It was a warning not to reject the Lord. It was a warning for them to listen to turn to the Lord. 1391s
Paul is using the same warning for his hears in this moment. Don't reject this word of freedom. 1403s
Turn to Jesus. Grab that freedom. It is yours right now. It is yours. 1413s
Verse 42, as Paul and Barnabas were going out the people urge them to speak about these things again 1425s
the next Sabbath. Paul ended his sermon. He and Barnabas were leaving, heading out on their way and the 1430s
people urged them. They begged Paul and Barnabas to come back to return to tell them again 1440s
of these same things. There were a lot of people who wanted to hear this word of forgiveness 1449s
proclaimed again. When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to 1457s
Judaism, followed Paul and Barnabas who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 1464s
The many who had heard Paul's sermon, they responded to it. The Holy Spirit used that proclaimed 1472s
word to transform their hearts, to have them begin turning to Jesus, to cling to the promise 1480s
made promise fulfilled. There were many who started to turn to Christ and Paul and Barnabas urged 1491s
their heroes to live in the continued grace. In that continued steadfast mercy and love of God. 1500s
None is deserving of God's mercy, but God is so rich and abundant in mercy that He gives it 1513s
and He gives it freely and He gave it for these heroes and He gives it for you. 1522s
Throughout this text, throughout his sermon, Paul continues to point to Christ. 1533s
He points to the forgiveness that we have in Jesus. He points to the man who delivers that forgiveness 1542s
Jesus Christ. He points to what that forgiveness means which is freedom and He points the people 1549s
to grace to live in grace continue in grace. So what does this mean for us? I think we covered a lot of it. 1558s
It means we're free. It means you are justified before God. It means that you can live 1573s
in continued grace because there's no need to sit trembling over what has been done or left 1579s
undone. You have been freed from the burden of that sin. You have been forgiven of those sin. 1589s
So we move on and we live in grace. And then we think that the harvest is plentiful. 1599s
And we are called to deliver that same word. We are called to point to forgiveness. We are called to 1608s
point to Jesus. We are called to point to the freedom that we have. And we are called to point 1617s
to the continued mercy and grace of God. That is good news. That is gospel. 1626s
So when we go forth, remember you are a people who are called to proclaim. You are called to 1642s
claim and to point to the very gospel, the very good news of Jesus Christ for you. Amen. Amen. 1651s