| Acts 13:
What Will You Do with the Grace of God?
A. Let’s take a look together at Paul’s very first recorded sermon,
documented in Acts 13 during Paul’s first missionary journey. Paul and
Barnabas have come to Antioch in Pisidia. It is a Sabbath day in a
synagogue. B. “After the reading from
the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message…‘If you
have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.’ So Paul stood up, and
motioning with his hand said…” I. God
Raises Up a Great _______Nation_______: The Message of God’s Law • ______Genesis_______: God chose Abraham
and his descendants as a means of bringing grace into the world • ______Exodus_______: God made Israel into
a great nation during their slavery in Egypt; at the right time, he led them
out • ______Exodus_______ –
__________Deuteronomy______________: For 40 years, God put up with Israel in
the wilderness • ______Joshua______:
After destroying 7 Canaanite nations, God gave Israel their land as an
inheritance II. God Raises Up a Great
_____King_____: The Message of Israel’s Future • ______Judges______: God gave Israel
judges until Samuel the prophet •
_______1 Samuel_______: In the days of Samuel, Israel asked for a king; God
gave them Saul for forty years •
______2 Samuel________: When God had removed Saul, he raised up David to be
their king Þ God testified of him: “I
have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do my
will” Þ David wrote some beautiful
psalms that not only praised God, but prophetically looked forward to God’s
Holy One Þ David, after he had served
the purpose of God in his own generation, died and “saw corruption” III. God Raises Up His Own ____Son____: The
Message of Mankind’s Salvation •
_______Matthew_______ – _____John_____: Of David’s offspring God has brought
to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised
Þ Before Jesus’ coming, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all
the people of Israel à But John also
made clear that he was not the long-awaited Deliverer Þ Inhabitants of Jerusalem and the Jewish
rulers did not recognize Jesus nor understand the utterances of the
prophets à In fact, they fulfilled the
utterances of the prophets by condemning Jesus à Though they did not find in Jesus any
guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed Þ When they had carried out all that was
written of Jesus (_2 Samuel______________ – ___Malachi____________), they
took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb Þ But God raised him from the dead, and
for many days he appeared to men and women who are now active witnesses
(___Acts_______) IV. God Raises THE
_____Questions___________: “What Will You Do with My Grace?” • “We bring you the good news that what
God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled by raising Jesus from the
dead, no more to return to corruption”
• “Let it be known to you therefore, that through this man forgiveness
of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone can be set free”
(____Romans_________ – _____Revelation_______________) • “What will you do with God’s
grace?” Þ Will you fall into the very
trap the prophets foretold? Þ Will
you come into contact with and continue in the grace of God? “All this took about 450 years.” |
