As a child growing up, my mother often had baked goods in the kitchen. Cookies, brownies, and cake would easily be found in the Holloway home at some point in time…if you knew where to look! My mom had a cake tin on the microwave shelf and a cookie jar on the countertop. Sometimes, the baked goods were almost gone. So, like every junior high aged boy, I would quietly attempt to grab as much of the remaining baked goods as possible – before the siblings got involved. The involvement of siblings only meant one thing…sharing. I wanted all the good stuff all too myself, but my parents taught me well and I was made to share.
Sometimes, the church treats the gospel like these baked goods. We act like we want to keep it all to ourselves. However, we are commanded to share the gospel –and even better news…there is more than enough for everyone! We must share the gospel with real truth, real provision, and real judgment. Let’s look at 3 more elements to sharing the gospel from Paul’s sermon in Acts 13.
REHEARSE TRUTH
Paul does not preach his opinion, he preaches truth. At the end of verse 23 and into verse 24, Paul shifts from their history to their current day. Here is the pathway Paul takes in this portion of the sermon:
13:23- The promised Savior is from the line of David.
13:24-25- John the Baptist spoke of another much greater than himself.
13:26- Salvation is sent to the Jews and to those who fear God.
13:27- The religious leaders in Jerusalem have fulfilled the prophecies you read each Sabbath by condemning Jesus.
13:28- The religious leaders in Jerusalem knew Jesus was innocent, but they sought to have him executed anyway.
13:29-30- The religious leaders in Jerusalem crucified Jesus and buried him, but God raised Him up from the dead.
13:31-35- There are many witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Paul also quotes from two different Psalms in verses 33 (Ps. 2:7) and 35 (Ps. 16:10) These are Old Testament scriptures, which is something they just finished reading.
13:36-37- David’s body decayed after death, but Jesus did not.
During my years of college education, I took some private voice lessons. As a freshman, I had to try out to join a campus choir. For the audition, I sang “Hiding in Thee.” For those you who know this old hymn, you already know that the chorus climaxes with a higher note – “…oh BLESSED rock of ages….” Well, let’s just say I did not have much of a vocal range back then. I could not sing very low, and I could not sing very high. So, when I went for that note, the choir director’s face had a slight twitch. The first question he asked me was, “will you be taking voice lessons this semester?” Fortunately, I had already registered for lessons and the choir director allowed me into the choir. The first thing I found out in voice lessons was I had been singing wrong for years. What had become habitual, now had to be relearned. Hard work was required. I had rehearsed counterfeit truth. I established well-worn pathways of wrong technique, wrong breath control, and wrong thoughts of singing in general. I would spend hours and hours every week rehearsing new habits, attempting to rehearse right technique and right breath control. I had to continue rehearsing the truth to replace the wrong habits established for years.
In Acts 13:23-37, Paul is rehearsing the truth about Jesus to a group of people who have been taught to rehearse lies about Jesus, but they viewed the lies as truth. This is contrary to everything the Jews thought to be true about Jesus. Truth impacts choices!
Be careful what you rehearse in your mind. Let’s look at two examples of poor choices to use as the standard for truth. Also, do not forget that the Bible and Jesus are THE truth (Jn. 14:6; 17:17).
o Movies and Novels about the Bible. View these as entertainment. Use them as an exercise to measure each portion against scripture – because scripture is the standard of truth, not the movies and novels!
o Other Believers. Friends will pressure you and convince you of something because another believer is doing it or “it’s no big deal” – and not once reference scripture. We only follow other believers as far as we see Christ (the standard of truth) in them (I Cor. 11:1). Christian leaders sometimes want themselves to be the standard. A few weeks ago, I heard of a preacher of an independent fundamental Baptist church say, “I know it is not in the Bible, but I am going to preach it anyway. It doesn’t have to be in the Bible for me to preach it.” That is dangerous, unbiblical, cultish preaching! It is also very transparent for the preacher to say so. Some preachers have declared God has commanded something that just isn’t in the Bible – and that is dishonest. Always use scripture as your ultimate standard for truth.
REVEAL PROVISION
Acts 13:38-39 – This One, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again from the grave…this One who is from the line of David…this One whom John the Baptist said was greater than himself…this One whom the religious leaders in Jerusalem had executed and God raised from the dead…this One whom many saw after His resurrection – this One is Jesus, the Savior, who will take away the sins of the world! He offers to all mankind the forgiveness of sin. This provision is not made possible through the law of Moses. It is the law that exposes this reality of judgment, and it is the work of Christ that satisfies justice for our breaking such laws and committing sin.
I played on a school basketball team during in 7th and 8th grades. We were a small school, I had an outside shot that was pretty dependable, and had got to play first string forward. When I tried out for the high school team during my freshman year, I realized that outside shot was not going to be enough. My older sister was the MVP player when she was in high school and college. I think the coach saw my outside shot and thought I might have her b-ball skills. I did not. As hard as I tried, I never was able to be good enough for that level of basketball.
You and I can never do enough to satisfy God’s judgment for our own sin. God has already done that. We focus on DOING to earn God’s favor, but God wants us to focus on what He has already DONE. Your sin has already been judged through punishment laid on Jesus Christ at the cross. He took your judgment, in your place, and willingly gave Himself for you! Jesus paid an unimaginable cost for your freedom from eternal condemnation in the horrors of hell – and offers it to you for the asking (Rom. 10:13). He did this because He loves you that much! What keeps you from accepting God’s gift of forgiveness? Church, what keeps you from actively living in the relationship God offered to you before you every sought Him out (I John 4:10, 19)?
WARN OF JUDGMENT
Acts 13:40-41 – The Jews believed they were safe. This warning declares a bold, but simple truth. It is bold, not because Paul had malicious intent or made a move to gain the upper hand. This warning is bold because the Jews lived in contradiction to truth. They believed they had truth, but they only held lies. Hear the boldness in how he addresses the crowd in the synagogue, “ye despisers.” In the Greek, this means “ye, among the pagan.” This warning of judgment could be summarized something like this –
If left with one sin not yet justified, not acquitted of your own guilt of sin, you are in every way undone.
Paul also points to the warning of the Old Testament when he says, “which is spoken of in the prophets.” This is a reference to Habakkuk 1 where the Babylonian and the Chaldean destruction of Jerusalem is foretold. Yet, the destruction Paul warns of in Acts 13:40-41 is far worse. It is an eternal destruction because they reject the gospel. In essence, Paul is holding up a figurative neon sign as he pleads with them to take heed lest they fall to judgment. Paul is pleading for their eternal lives!
We will stand up against abortion, stand up for political views, and stand up for personal rights. When do we stand up for the gospel?
Two men sat on a county highway with a sign that read, “THE END IS NEAR.” One sports car with two young guys sped by yelling back in a mocking tone, “Get a life, ya bunch of hippies!” The young men laughed and drove on. In about 60 seconds of time there was a car crash. The sports car with the young men drove over a cliff. The men holding the sign look at each other as one said to the other, “Do you think we should change the sign to ‘Bridge is out?’”
Some warnings are just not clear. Paul’s gospel message has a clear warning of coming judgment. The gospel is not just about forgiveness of sin and a home in heaven. The gospel is also about salvation from eternal condemnation. We must share the gospel with real truth, real provision, and real judgment.