The Holy Spirit, a Bible, a Passport, and a First-Aid Kit, Part 1

Conflict doesn’t have to end in failure. The good news about Mark is that he finished well. After all, he ended up writing the Gospel bearing his name. When Paul writes his last letter, he says, “Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry” (2 Tim 4:11). That mention gives insight into the grace and restoration that had to follow what happened here in verse 13. At this point in Acts, Paul wants nothing more to do with Mark. Later he will want Mark to visit him, commending him as “useful.” So, while you may have conflicts on your team, rest assured that restoration can occur.

Luke’s brief mention of the team’s trip to Antioch in Pisidia makes no mention of the arduous nature of the trek. Polhill helps us imagine it:

Antioch lay some 100 miles to the north across the Taurus mountain range. The route was barren, often flooded by swollen mountain streams, and notorious for its bandits, which even the Romans had difficulty bringing under control. Antioch itself was in the highlands, some 3,600 feet above sea level. (Acts, 297)

Add to that the likelihood of some physical illness plaguing the group’s leader, and you have one extremely challenging venture.

Ministry isn’t for the faint of heart. Advancing the gospel will cost us. If you ever imagine that pioneer evangelism and church planting are glamorous, just read about some of Paul’s afflictions in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. Then read about the church’s larger history; you will find some of God’s choicest servants like Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther, and William Wilberforce suffering from all sorts of health problems. Others, like George Whitefield and David Livingstone, suffered under violent threats.

Paul’s desire to reach the Gentiles reminds us of part of the reason we have so many unreached people in the world: they live in extreme, hard-to-access places—on steep hillsides, in deserts, and out in the middle of nowhere. Many other unreached peoples live in dangerous places, in locations where society is violently hostile to Christianity. But here in Acts 13 we see an example of the type of grace-enabled endurance that must reside in the hearts of gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered, Christ-exalting missionaries.

Acts 13:14b-52

Although it is referred to as “Pisidian Antioch” to distinguish it from other places such as Antioch in Syria, this town was actually in Phrygia, just across the border from Pisidia in the Roman province of Galatia (Polhill, Acts, 297). In Paul’s sermon in this section, he strikes a major theme in his letter to the Galatians—namely, justification by faith alone (vv. 38-39). Many Jews also resided in this city, so he follows his typical approach of beginning his evangelistic efforts in the synagogue. Pisidian Antioch was an influential political and economic region. Paul’s approach to fulfilling the gospel mission involved evangelizing important cities like this one.

Perhaps word spread that Paul had been taught under the great rabbi Gamaliel, leading to his invitation to give the exposition for the day (vv. 14-15). Paul has been preaching already, but here Luke records one of Paul’s sermons—to a Jewish audience. This sermon has a lot in common with Peter’s Pentecost sermon, especially in the way it shows Jesus as the promised Messiah and in that both cite Psalm 16. It also bears similarity to Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7, although Stephen emphasized Israel’s rebellion while Paul emphasizes God’s grace to Israel.

From this sermon we learn to proclaim Christ in a way that is suitable for a particular audience. To be sure, Paul always proclaimed Christ in evangelism. He never changed the fixed gospel. But Paul was flexible in approach. His sermon to this primarily Jewish crowd differs from his evangelism efforts to pagans. We will see this much more in 14:15-17 and 17:16-34. In addition, Paul’s sermon to a group of pastors also bears a distinct flavor (20:17-35). And his speeches before Felix and Agrippa (24; 26) were also situational. The way Paul addresses the Jews in a synagogue in Acts 13 makes sense. They were familiar with David, the law, and the Old Testament story.

At issue here is the same challenge every missionary has today, whether speaking to large crowds or to individuals, to locals in their hometowns or to those who live among unreached peoples. They don’t try to evangelize a sixty-year-old grandma who spent some time in American Sunday school the same way they speak to a Chinese college student who has absolutely no clue about what is in the Bible. Similarly, your Muslim neighbor has a different worldview from the teenager that goes to the private Catholic school. This will require you to share the fixed gospel with flexible communication if you intend to reach them effectively.

Evangelizing people with this kind of sensitivity is the task of contextualization, making the gospel known in a way appropriate for the context. Steve Timmis says,

In every situation, there needs to be a point of contact with the people (understand their values, history, communication style) and a point of conflict that reveals how their own narrative conflicts with that of the Gospel. (“How to Plant a Church”)

This requires both faithfulness to the gospel and an effectiveness and awareness in communication. Here in Acts 13 it’s a Jewish setting, so Paul exalts Jesus from the Old Testament. He uses his audience’s existing grasp of Scripture to show them that Jesus is the hero of their Bible.

Rabbinic sources show that the synagogue service was typically opened by a reading of the Law of Moses and one of a related text from the Prophets, a recitation of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5), and the praying of prescribed prayers (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 161). An exposition then followed, sometimes given by a visiting rabbi (cf. Luke 4:16-30). This word of encouragement or exhortation (v. 15; Heb 13:22) was a sermon based on the readings for the day and the application of the texts to the people. It was basically what we call expositional preaching (cf. 1 Tim 4:13).

Paul’s Christ-exalting sermon contains three parts. It received a mixed reaction.

Paul begins by emphasizing God’s grace to Israel as he briefly summarizes Israel’s history. God is the subject of nearly every verb he chooses (Stott, Message of Acts, 223). John Piper notes, “This text [vv. 17-30] is utterly saturated with God. Sixteen times Paul presses home the truth that God is the central Actor in history” (“History Is God’s Story”). Indeed, this sermon is Scripture saturated, God centered, and Christ exalting. Notice the initiating work of God. God “led them out . . . put up with them . . . gave them their land . . . gave them judges . . . gave them Saul . . . [and] raised up David.” None of their history is random because God doesn’t do random. He is accomplishing his purposes in history.

After mentioning David the king, Paul then jumps to Jesus, the promised Messiah and descendent of David (v. 23), showing the continuity of the Bible and setting his emphasis on Jesus as the risen and reigning King. He then mentions the King of king’s forerunner, John the Baptist (vv. 24-25).

With this brief sketch of history leading up to the coming of Christ, Paul, like John the Baptist, exalts Jesus with great boldness. And like John the Baptist, he tells his audience that Jesus is the climax of biblical history. It culminates in the arrival of David’s greater Son, Jesus—God’s promised Messiah and the world’s Savior.

Paul’s focus is to herald “the word of this salvation” (v. 26), or “the good news” (v. 32), which centers on the person and work of Jesus.

Paul says that Jesus’s identity has been confirmed by his resurrection victory(Ferguson, “Acts 13:13-57”). The residents of Jerusalem and their rulers “did not recognize him,” and even though they found no guilt in him, they condemned him (vv. 27-28). The people actually thought Jesus was the opposite of who he really was, so they had him executed. Further, the fact that Jesus was crucified was proof to his opponents that he was an imposter since the Scriptures teach that God sets a curse on any who hang on a tree (v. 29; Deut 21:23-23). But Paul tells his audience that such a view of Jesus is a man-centered judgment. In raising Jesus from the dead, God confirmed Jesus’s identity as the Messiah (v. 30). Resurrection is verification. The resurrection proved that Jesus’s work on the cross was sufficient. And God’s raising of Jesus proved Jesus’s words true. Paul adds that many still-living eyewitnesses can testify to Jesus’s bodily resurrection (v. 31).

Paul adds that Jesus fulfills biblical prophecy. God fulfilled his plan through the hands of those who had no desire to see Jesus as the Messiah (vv. 27,29). Jesus didn’t self-engineer the fulfillment of prophecy. It was carried out through the evil deeds of others. Contrary to the executors’ own purposes, they fulfilled God’s purposes.

Paul goes on to cite several texts (Pss 2:7; 16:10; Isa 55:3), showing that in these specific ways prophecies about Jesus have been fulfilled. For instance, Jesus, the Holy One and universal King, did not see decay—unlike David (vv. 36-37).

This sermon highlights Paul’s own words in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11: we must preach the things that are “most important.” We must keep the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus—as recorded in the Scriptures—the main message of our ministries. Christ is the hero of the Bible, and he must remain the hero of our teaching and preaching.

Paul shifts to application at this point, as indicated by the transitional word “therefore.” What do Christ’s death and resurrection mean for them (and us)?

In effect Paul says, “Here’s the good news of the gospel: You can have the forgiveness of sins through Christ! You can be justified—that is, declared righteous in God’s sight through Jesus. We, who can’t be perfectly obedient to God, can be counted righteous through placing faith in Jesus. We can’t earn righteousness; we must receive it. We can receive justification—meaning not only ‘just as if I never sinned,’ but also ‘just as if I always obeyed’—when we trust Christ alone.”

People will try everything to get rid of the guilt they feel, to deal with their unsettled consciences. They try therapy, exercise, diets, medicine, and countless other remedies. And while these things can treat some of the symptoms of underlying issues, they won’t ultimately heal a person of his or her real problems. Some religious types even try to deal with guilt by religious performance, but that only leads to pride or despair. Other religious types practice self-mutilation, physically whipping themselves in a hopeless attempt to make atonement for their sin. Some even try to dismiss their guilt by saying, “I won’t worry about it. That way it will go away.” But that doesn’t work either.

God has provided only one solution for the problem of guilt: we must trust in Christ alone. We must trust in the One who bore our curse on the cross, setting us free from condemnation. Jesus says to repentant sinners, “You are forgiven. You are free from condemnation” (cf. Rom 8:1). Each person, then, must come to Jesus and be “justified” from everything from which they could not be freed by following the law of Moses (13:39; cf. Gal 3:10-14). Everyone can exchange condemnation for justification and the experience of peace, learning to sing wholeheartedly, “It [really] is well with my soul!”

How do people receive this forgiveness? It is through faith in Christ. Paul says, “Everyone who believes is justified through him” (v. 39, a theme he unpacks in Galatians in particular; e.g., Gal 2:16). So rest the weight of your sin, guilt, and restless conscience on him. Rest in the grace of Jesus. Stop trusting in anything else. Think you have done too much to be forgiven? Think again. Even those who put Jesus to death were not beyond the reach of God’s saving grace (Acts 3:15,19; 1 Tim 1:13).

Paul adds a warning for all who would scoff at and reject the gospel, quoting Habakkuk 1:5. He says, in effect, “Don’t set this matter aside. This is a matter of eternal life or eternal judgment!” He warns against the hardness of heart that keeps people from believing the message. He warns against the cynic who scoffs at the truth. Often people assume that it’s because of some lofty intellectual argument that people make fun of the message of salvation. But accepting or rejecting what Jesus accomplished at Calvary is not about one’s intelligence; it’s about one’s heart. Previously in Acts an intelligent man, Sergius Paulus, became a Christian. But here many in this crowd refuse Paul’s message because of nothing more than hard-heartedness.

One group wanted to hear more on the following Sabbath (vv. 42,45). Others “followed Paul and Barnabas,” not just physically but spiritually (v. 43). The missionaries urged these new disciples to “continue in the grace of God” (cf. 11:23; 14:22), meaning that just as they entered the faith by grace, they must persevere in the faith while relying on God’s grace—a needed warning in light of rising persecution in the town.

“Almost the whole town assembled” to hear that forgiveness is available for anyone who will simply trust in Christ—a message just as applicable to Gentiles attracted to Jewish monotheism as to those immersed in paganism. Upon seeing the crowds gather to hear the missionaries on the Sabbath, however, the Jews were filled with “jealousy” and “began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him” (13:45; cf. 5:17; 17:5). Sadly, the people who knew the Bible best became the most hostile. And when they didn’t have an argument, they attacked the messenger.

Paul and Barnabas answer their opponents by telling them it was by divine necessity that they preached to the Jew first, just as they will do in other cities (14:1; 17:2; Rom 1:16), being mindful of God’s promise to the patriarchs. But the Jewish community in Pisidian Antioch in general rejected the Word, so Paul and Barnabas declared, “We are turning to the Gentiles” (13:46). Thus, they fulfilled the calling that was given to Israel through the prophet Isaiah: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the end of the earth” (v. 47; Isa 49:6).

This announcement causes the Gentiles to rejoice, worship, and believe (v. 48). Israel rejects its Messiah, but God still has his chosen ones, who will feast at his banquet (Luke 14:21-24). The book of Acts is filled with expressions of God’s sovereign plan at work in the salvation of sinners (2:23,39,47; 3:16,18; 4:27-28; 5:14,31; 11:18,24; 15:8-9; 16:14; 18:27).

The Word then spread beyond the city into the region (v. 49). Its success reminds me of some basil we planted last year. It just grew like crazy. Perhaps you’ve seen some vegetables in your garden take off in a similar way. That’s the picture I get when reading this passage.

Sometimes missionaries endure persecution; sometimes they move on as a result of it. On this occasion, they leave town, shaking the dust off of their feet as a sign of God’s indictment against the place (cf. Luke 9:5; Acts 18:6). But they leave “filled with joy and the Holy Spirit” and head east to Iconium (v. 52), remaining on mission. Once again, we see the connection between suffering for the sake of the gospel and Christian joy. That’s a joy many haven’t tasted because they haven’t suffered for the Name (cf. 5:41).

Some were intrigued by the message the missionaries shared. Some were enraged by it. Some believed it completely. And the messengers were filled with joy. We should expect to encounter similarly mixed results when we make the gospel known.

Perhaps you are familiar with the Bible but have never trusted in Jesus (John 5:39). Recognize that these Jews knew the Bible also, but they remained unconverted. You need to know more than a few hundred Bible verses to have the assurance of spending eternity in heaven. You must come to faith in the living Savior.

Perhaps you are a genuine Christian. Can you explain the gospel from the Bible? Be ready to explain the good news to people because you never know who may be open to embracing the message.

And perhaps you’re zealous to share the good news—but are you ready for opposition? It’s inevitable, but along with persevering in spite of it comes a deep joy that comes from obedience to Jesus. So go in the power of the Holy Spirit, telling the nations how to find forgiveness through Christ—even though it will cost you. Grab your Bible, your passport, and your first-aid kit and make the light of the gospel known in this dark world.