June 17, 2020
Central Truth
When asked to give a word of encouragement, let the Lord do His thing through you. Be obedient. He does the calling and changing of hearts to draw people to Himself.
Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with 1 13:18 Some manuscripts he carried (compare Deuteronomy 1:31) them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,
‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed 2 13:39 Greek justified; twice in this verse from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41
‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews 3 13:45 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 50 saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever hesitated to say the right thing? Have you ever wished, "Oh man, I could've said this or that to others to encourage them, but I was (insert inadequate feeling)?" I've had many situations in which my mouth doesn't follow the poundings of what the Lord is laying on my heart to say.
I've been in situations when I didn't speak up with a biblical word of encouragement. Situations like as a young, single flight attendant jet-setting the world; or as a high school math teacher when I would see a student struggling; or in Christian circles when I know the Lord is asking me to speak up. All of those missed opportunities were out of fear of man. I didn't trust that God would use whatever sloppy mess of words spewed forth from my ESL (English as a Second Language) lips.
The inspiring part of this passage is that Paul was actually ASKED to share a word of encouragement, and he followed through! He started by stating a brief history of how the Jews went from Egypt to Canaan, then he spoke of the Judges and Samuel the prophet and Saul, then David, and then "of [David's] offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised" (Acts 13:23). This is like an eye-opening spoken-word piece or an awesome Bible timeline story presented by the children's staff at our church.
The culminating truth Paul laid bare before his fellow "brothers" was "that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38-39). Boom. Mic drop.
I wish I could have mic-drop moments like that. I wish I could summarize and speak up the way Paul does in this passage. WOW—what a vessel! But the beauty of the Lord's plan is that He has created us each to be a unique vessel for Him in the circle He has placed us in. Paul was definitely blooming where he was planted. Let us also be courageous and bloom (or boom) where we are planted.
1. What inadequacies are holding you back? Listen to this song, and let it inspire you.
2. Are you inspired to be Paul's understudy in sharing a word of truth? Check out Acts 17:22-34 where he speaks to a mixed crowd of Gentiles and Jews and goes more in-depth for mic drop #2. Take some time and meditate on and memorize his speech and let God use you.
3. Read this article and see which areas you can ask the Lord to strengthen in you as you become bold for Him.