Preaching

Christ Is a Blazing Sun, His Word is a Lightning Bolt

/ davidsschrock

Asking the question, what are preachers sent to do, Doug Wilson gives a powerful and clear answer in his Desiring God message from 2009.  Here is what he says,

We are not sent to preach a distant star or moon. We are sent to preach a blazing sun that lights and heats every creature, that dominates all things, and around which everything else must necessarily revolve.

We are not sent to make a few mild suggestions. We are not sent to have a relational dialogue. We are sent to preach and to declare. We are commissioned—ordained—to compel every manifestation of worldly power, glory, wisdom, and exaltation to yield to and obey God’s word.

We come to declare that all men need to repent and believe. The kingdom of God is here. We declare what has been accomplished, not what we would like to be accomplished. We are ordained to feed the sheep and drive away the wolves. And if needs be, we have been ordained to preach the word as if we were thunder and lightening. How can we not? The Scriptures themselves are thunder and lightning.

God, help us pastors and preachers as we deliver your Word tomorrow.  May it strike with the power and precision of a lightning strike, and may the world know that you are speaking.  May the light of Christ illumine our minds and shine forth in our messages so that your people will turn from their sin and flee to their Savior.

Let us Proclaim Christ, dss

Reading Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation: Interpretive Help from Bob Fyall

/ davidsschrock

In preparing to teach Daniel tonight, I re-read a great 10-page essay on how to read apocalyptic literature.

Bob Fyall, Senior Tutor in Ministry at Cornhill Scotland, and author of an excellent monograph on Job, Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job, has written a very helpful piece on Preaching Apocalyptic Literature. He supplies 3 traits of Apocalyptic Literature that are characteristic of this strange genre, and he gives 5 interpretive principles for preachers (and all Bible readers).

Justin Taylor pointed to this article a while back along with a number of other helpful lectures and sermons on apocalyptic literature by the likes of D.A. Carson, David Helm, Colin Smith, and Josh Moody.

I have summarized Fyall’s comments–that are worth reading in full–to give a sense of how we should read Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation, to name a few.

3 TRAITS OF APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

  1. “Apocalyptic literature tends to deal with symbolism” (e.g. numbers are often used symbolically).
  2. “Apocalyptic literature particularly emphasizes the unseen world” (e.g. the throne of God is frequently depicted).
  3. “Apocalyptic literature uses vivid language” that is easier to imagine than exegete.

5 HELPS FOR PREACHING/READING APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

  1. Fit apocalyptic literature into the Big Picture of the Bible. Apocalyptic literature (AL) is found throughout the Bible (Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Matthew 24-25, 1 Thessalonians 2, Revelation) and it should be connected to the whole Bible.  It is often found originating in times of persecution and distress, namely the exile, and it usually reaches forward to the culmination of all things in the eschaton.  When reading AL, be sure to place it in the larger storyline of the Bible.
  2. Deal with apocalyptic literature faithfully and imaginatively. Symbolism is the stuff of AL.  Numbers and wild beasts are often used to depict historical and/or eschatological entities.
  3. Link the present with the eternal. Preaching (or Bible reading) that is only concerned with the present results in moralistic ‘platitudes;’ but preaching that disconnects the present from the future is distant an intangible.  AL however, unites the two, showing how the eternal realities of judgment, salvation, and cosmic warfare relate to the people suffering today.  It is very practical.  Since the end of the ages is coming with Christ riding on the clouds, be sober and live for his return.  Do not get drunk on this age and fall asleep in the light, but keep watching for you do not know when the Son of Man will return, but it is imminent.
  4. Link apocalyptic literature with other genres in the Bible. AL is never disconnected from other forms of prophecy and instruction in the Bible.  Revelation is described as an apocalypse, a prophecy, and a letter.  In Daniel, the Babylonian exile fuses with eschatological expectations.  Daniel 7 is a brackish inlet that combines the salt water of this world, with the fresh water of the world to come.
  5. Preach Christ. All Scripture is about Christ, and AL is no different.  Though challenging in places, making Christ the focus of our preaching (and Bible reading) will keep us centered on the main thing, one in whom God is unifying heaven and earth (Eph 1:10).  Even when details are obscure, keeping Christ at the center makes the passage sparkle with glorious revelation.

Soli Deo Gloria, dss

A Word-Driven Ministry

/ davidsschrock

On Wednesday night, I taught through the book of Nehemiah as a part of our year long journey through the Bible–Via Emmaus: A Christ-Centered Walk Through the Bible.  My aim was to show the redemptive-historical features of the book and patterns of salvation that are extant in the book.  However, the book also provides an excellent portrait of godly leadership and a word-driven ministry.  (For more on that see Mark Dever’s chapter on Nehemiah in The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made).

Ezra and Nehemiah are two books that show the sovereignty of God to reestablish God’s people (Israel) in God’s place (Jerusalem).  They also do a great deal to show how YHWH leads Israel back into covenant with himself, and with that covenant renewal comes a laser beam focus on the power of God’s word. For instance, Nehemiah 8 illustrates the way God’s word can transform a people.  And for God’s covenant people today, it gives an excellent motion picture of what the ministry of the word could and should look like.  Even with the differences that exist between that Old Covenant period of Ezra-Nehemiah and the church today, Ezra’s priestly ministration models a commitment to God’s Word worthy of imitation (cf Heb 13:7).

Here are 6 Marks of a Word-Driven Ministry from Nehemiah 8:

  1. Word-Based: There wasn’t any gimmick, program, or contrived technique to change the people.  From morning to midday, Ezra read the Law (v. 3, 5) and Levites gave the sense (v. 7-8). Ezra displayed incredible faithfulness to the Scriptures, and the sufficiency of God’s Word is seen in the fact that they simply read and explained the text, and hearts were moved.  If only, we would have the same commitment today!
  2. Expositional teaching: The kind of teaching that changes lives in Ezra is the kind that simply reads and explains the ‘Bible’. It aims to understand God’s word and make known the plain sense of the inspired Word; it reads the text in context and applies it to our lives. Ezra and his team of “small group leaders” took the word and helped the people understand it.  The words they read surely came form or were based on Law of Moses, and yet they understood the words as speaking to them (cf Deut 32:47).  The result was a deep sense of contrition and thanksgiving, as well as, a reinstitution of the Feast of Booths, which recalled God’s saving work during the Exodus (8:13ff).
  3. Community: A word-driven ministry gathers around the word  in unity and with regularity (v. 1).  In Nemehiah 8 we see men, women, and children gathering as one man to hear God’s word (v. 1, 3, 8) and to receive instruction (v. 7).  As a result, the entire nation repented and rejoiced as they heard the word (8:9-12).  For more on the centrality of the gathered people around the word, see Christopher Ash’s new book, The Priority of Preaching.  The third chapter explains the necessity of the assembly that gathers to hear God’s word: Powerful!)
  4. Plurality of teachers: As Ezra opened God’s Law, he was surrounded by Israelite leaders whose names are recorded in verses 4 and 7.  While Ezra was the leading teacher (a model that is continued in the NT and in churches today), he was not alone (a pattern also continued in the NT and sorely missing in many churches today).  Because the Word is authoritative, it is appropriate to have a plurality of teachers.  In fact, while a church can begin with a singular teacher, it does better to move towards a plurality of leader-teachers, what the NT calls pastor-teachers, elders, and/or shepherds.
  5. Elevation of the Word: Ezra stood on a platform “made for the purpose” of lifting high the Word of God; the people stood to hear it; hands were raised and audible sounds made indicating that this is God’s word– “Amen!”  The people were not stoic recipients of God’s word, nor were they impatient consumers.  They hungered for God’s word and listened with intensity and receptive participation.
  6. Heartfelt Affection: The appropriate response to God’s word is not only cognitive acquisition, but also heartfelt affection.  Those who heard the word of God, were moved to tears (v. 9); they were encouraged to take heart (v. 10), and they wept away rejoicing because they had understood God’s word (v. 11-12).  True understanding is not simply intellectual, it is emotive and volitional, too.  Thus listening to the Word read or preached is not a passive activity.  It requires earnest prayer and heart preparation to be moved by God’s word.  For preachers, too, it is essential that God’s word grips our hearts as much as our heads.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is instructive. Our churches and our pastors would do well to emulate Ezra (cf. Ezra 7:10).  From a cursory reading of Nehemiah, it is evident that God’s people were radically affected by God’s word, in a way that today’s churches need.  Yet tragically, pastors look back on Ezra as though his method is archaic and outmoded.

Ironically, there is more power today in the preaching of God’s word, than Ezra ever knew.  Ezra’s ministry was under the Old Covenant, and thus did not come with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  With Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension, the promised Holy Spirit has been poured out (Acts 2) and today the power of the Word is incomparably greater (Acts 1:8; cf. 1 Thess 1:5).

Today, preachers should have even greater confidence to proclaim God’s unadulterated Word, because the living and active word is not only true, it is accompanied by the Holy Spirit who convicts, converts, comforts, and conforms God’s children into the image of Christ.  The word of God will not return void, and ministries marked by the Word will accomplish exactly what God intends–salvation and judgment (cf Matt 13:10-17).

May we who proclaim the Word, do so unashamedly, trusting that the seed of the Word will establish the kingdom of God.  It may be foolish to the world, but it is the wisdom and power of God.

Soli Deo Gloria, dss

Expositional Listening: The First Mark of a Healthy Church Member

/ davidsschrock / 2 Comments

9781433502125tThabiti Anyabwile, pastor of the First Baptist Church (Cayman Island), has written a very helpful book for local churches and church members.  Addressing concerns about the spiritual health of church members, Pastor Anyabwile in his book What is a Healthy Church Member?  gives 10 corporate disciplines that mark a healthy member of Christ’s body.

Last night, the congregation of Calvary Baptist Church (Seymour, IN), looked at the first mark: Healthy Church Members Are Expositional Listeners.

Here are the five application points from the evening service.  They are ways that Christians can grow stronger in their understanding and application of God’s word.  I encourage you to incorporate them into your own weekly routine and to challenge others to do the same.

  1. Read, pray, and prepare BEFORE the Sunday message.  Take time to read the passage of Scripture that will be preached on the coming Sunday.  If you don’t know what that passage is, ask your pastor and tell them that you will be praying for and preparing to hear his message.  (For those at Calvary, the next sermon will cover Colossians 1:24 – 2:5).
  2. Take notes DURING the message.  Purchase a good notebook and take notes each week.  Over a lifetime of expositional listening, you should acquire a virtual commentary on the entire Bible as your pastor preaches the whole counsel of God.  Pastors: Preach the whole counsel of God! (Acts 20:27).
  3. Tell someone what you leared AFTER the message.   Either for the purpose of evangelism, edification, or further understanding, take time to talk to someone about the sermon you heard last Sunday.  This can be a great way to invite someone to church or to minister God’s truth to another believer.
  4. Send your pastor an email to clarify a question.  The Lord has given pastors and teachers to the local church so that the saints may be equipped for the work of service and grow in the Word of God (cf. Eph 4:11-16).  So, in other words, God has placed men in churches who know the Bible and love to share it with others.  Take advantage of these gifted leaders, and learn from them, so that you too may be a greater biblical witness.
  5. Listen to sermons from faithful expositors on the Internet, radio, or video.  Since we live in an electronic age, one where God’s word is so readily available online, let me urge you not to miss out on some of today’s premier Bible teachers.  Below is a list of some of my favorite preachers — men who have proven themselves to be faithful expositors of God’s word.

Alistair Begg is pastor of Parkside Community Church in Cleveland, Ohio.  Pastor Begg is a Scottish pastor who has come stateside.  He is a faithful and illuminating teacher of God’s word with a witty sense of humor.

Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.  Pastor Mark is a truth-telling and big-hearted pastor whose commitment to the local church has shaped a generation of young pastors–including Pastor Anyabwile, who formerly served with him in D.C.  Pastor Mark will often preach large portions of Scripture, even whole books of the Bible.  His book-length sermons have been collected in a two-volume work called The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept.

John McArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California, is perhaps the premier biblical expositor alive today.  His commentaries on the New Testament are a treasure-trove of linguistic-historical-cultural exposition of the Bible.  His expositional preaching is filled with biblical insight and truth.

Russell Moore is a teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church (Louisville, KY) and Dean of Theology at Southern Seminary.  Dr. Moore is a gifted biblical theologian whose penetrating exposition illumines the Scripture with captivating references that range from Wonder Woman to the Wal-Mart Breakroom. 

John Piper, pastor of Bethelehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, describes preaching as “expositional exultation.”  As seen in Nehemiah 8:12, understanding God’s word results in joy.   Pastor Piper’s siren call for joy in God is seen powerfully at work in his expositional preaching.

Finally, two preachers who are dead but still speak through the medium of recorded sermons are W.A. Criswell (1909-2002) and Adrian Rogers (1931-2005).  Standing for the truth in an age of modernist drift, Criswell and Rogers preached the word of God with expositional power and consistency.  Older generations in the church will remember these biblical stalwarts; younger generations need to learn of these spiritual forebears.

This week I pray that our church and your church would be filled with expositional listening.

For the glory of Christ and his church, dss

Looking for the Kingdom of God in the Book of Ezekiel

/ davidsschrock

When was the last time you preached Ezekiel?  Not from Ezekiel, but Ezekiel.  Not Ezekiel 16 and God’s graphic castigation of Israel’s spiritual whoredom; not Ezekiel 36 and the promise of a renewed heart and a clean spirit; not Ezekiel 37 and the valley of dry bones; I mean Ezekiel, the whole thing? 

If you did decide to preach Ezekiel, where would you try it out?  Would it be a trial run in a Sunday School class?  Would it be at youth lock-in–you’ve got to be there all night anyways?  Would it be to a group of eager seminarians?  Or would it be at one of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention?

This weekend, a good friend of mine, Grant Gaines, had the opportunity to preach to Bellevue Baptist Church (Memphis, TN), and he delivered an outstanding message. Challenging BBC to see the kingdom of God, he preached the whole book of  entitled: “Looking for the Kingdom: The Message of Ezekiel.”

His three points were: There is Sin to be Punished, chapters 1-24; There is an Enemy to be Defeated, chapters 25-32; and There is a Kingdom to be Established, chapters 33-48.  His faithful message exemplifies canonical preaching, biblical theology, and a Christocentric hermeneutic.  I encourage you to listen to it yourself, to consider his example, and to look for the kingdom–and if you have the chance: Preach Ezekiel! 

For more examples of preaching the Bible book-by-book, see Mark Dever’s The Message of the Old Teastament: Promises Made and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept .

May we all be unashamed to preach Christ from every verse, chapter, and book of God’s inspired Word.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

DA Carson on Biblical Theology and Preaching

/ davidsschrock / 6 Comments

While speaking at a conference this weekend at Omaha Bible Church on the topic of suffering, D. A. Carson gave a trenchant overview of Biblical Theology and Preaching.  His points are worth pondering and applying.

 

1. Biblical Theology directly addresses massive biblical illiteracy now prevalent in many of our hearers.  Preachers who only preach small portions of Scripture, who take “six years to preach through Matthew,” do a disservice to their congregations and deprive them of large swathes of Scripture.  BT preaching contends against biblical illiteracy.

2. Biblical Theology considers the major turning points in the Bible, not just the raw chronological story.  Preaching that highlights the covenants, the exodus, the exile, the incarnation, the resurrection, and the cross help disciples of Christ understand his story and theirs.  This is not the same thing as mere bible story telling, like in Telling God’s Story (Vang and Carter, 2006), which simply retells the bible in survey fashion.  It is rather a forward-moving, eschatological narrative that has twists, turns, all pointing to Christ.

3. Biblical Theology enriches and encourages systematic Bible reading and is in turn enriched by those who faithfully read their Bible’s.  More than just reading the Bible for an emotional pick-me-up, congregants who see redemptive storyline in Scripture will delight in reading the OT narratives, the minor prophets, and Levitical codes with greater anticipation and understanding.  They become more accessible when they are put in biblical-theological context.  To illustrate this point, Carson expounded Genesis 39 and the biblical theological ramifications of the Joseph narrative with Potipher’s wife.  More than just an admonition to avoid sexual immorality, lust, and tempting situations (though it does affirm all of those); it shows how Joseph’s sexual purity preserved the people of Israel and advanced the kingdom of God.  Consider this quote: Humanly speaking, you and I are Christians today, saved by the blood of the lamb, because Joseph kept his zipper up!!!  This perspective is reinforced and elucidated by BT.

4. Biblical Theology demands inductive rigor in preaching Biblical books and corpora.  DAC argues that preachers must do more than systematically analyze biblical data.  In doing so, God’s progressive revelation is minimized, time and space are blurred.  Rather BT preachers must ask in every passage:  What time is it?   How does this passage fit in the biblical narrative?  On what antecedent revelation/theology is the author grounding?  And concerning biblical language, how does this particular author use his language?  Different authors at different times mean different things by their words, and so it is vital to understand the language in context.

5. Biblical Theology not only keeps historical-canonical-covenantal turning points in mind, but it also keeps inner-canonical tendons/connections tied together in Scripture, and these ineluctably point to Jesus Christ.  Carson alluded to about twenty explicit themes that run through Scripture and move the storyline framework along.  Some of these he listed were: covenant, temple, sonship, marriage, to name a few.  He cited a profitable exercise of going to Revelation 21-22, listing all of the themes and images in the two chapters and then tracing them out throughout the rest of the Bible.  This is an assignment he gives incoming students at TEDS, and it is surely something that would be beneficial to any reader of the Scriptures, for Revelation 21-22 sum up all things in the Scriptures.  William Dumbrell’s book The End of the Beginning does this very well, as does GK Beale’s The Temple and the Church’s Mission.

6. Finally, Biblical Theology helps avoid anachronism in your preaching by developing biblically warranted inter-connections. 

7. There was a seventh point in there somewhere, but I missed it.  I encourage you to listen for yourself, pick out the seventh point, and see how God would have you apply biblical theology to your preaching.

A few other resources that DA Carson names to better grasp these issues are The Unfolding Mystery by Edmund Clowney, (I would add Preaching and Biblical Theology by Clowney), Graeme Goldworthy’s Trilogy, and Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Preaching (cf. Him We Proclaim by Dennis Johnson and Preaching Christ from the Old Testament by Sidney Greidanus).

May we who preach the Bible, preach the whole counsel of God, and point all of our hearers to Jesus Christ through the inspired language of Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. 

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

(HT: Unashamed Workman)

Willy Wonka or the Word of God?

/ davidsschrock

What is the difference between Willy Wonka and the Word of God?  Not much, says Jonathan Akin, if all the Scriptures do is expound moral platitudes and present examples of bravery, kindness, and obedience.  Lamenting the way that too many Christians moralize the message of the Bible, Pastor Akin asserts that Jesus Christ is the point of every passage and that every week the gospel should be preached from every corner of the Scriptures.  He writes:

If we view the Gospel as a hoop and believe the Bible is mostly about giving us tips for living life, then our teaching will rarely rise above the level of having the Oompa Loompas come in for special music on a Sunday morning. But if we believe the story of Jesus of Nazareth living the life we could never live, drowning under God’s wrath in our place and being vindicated as the firstfruits of a new creation on the third day is the essence of the Christian life — both how you enter and how you then live — then our preaching and teaching will have transforming power. For then it will be about knocking down the idols in the lives of our hearers, both believers and unbelievers, and conforming them to the image of our King.

Good word! May we labor to read, teach, pray, and preach Christ from the whole counsel of Scripture. You can read the whole article here.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

Acts 13:13-41 (pt. 3, OT Fulfillment and Response)

/ davidsschrock

Today is the third part of a message I taught from the book of Acts on the biblical-theological nature of Paul’s sermon in Antioch of Pisidia.  There is much to be gleaned from Paul’s method of preaching and much to be believed from the content of his message. 

Following this canonical explanation, Paul goes back to the Scriptures and explains Jesus kingship, covenantal obedience, and resurrection in light of three OT passages (13:33-39). He assigns the subject matter in each passage to Jesus and says what was promised before has come to life in the son of the carpenter. From the second Psalm, Paul affirms Jesus as the son who God has chosen and set as king in Zion. Implicitly, this exhorts his audience to repent of their raging and to kiss the Son (Ps. 2:12).

From Isaiah 55:3, Paul says that Jesus has received all the blessings of David. In context, Isaiah 55 is the blessed result of the suffering servant’s substitutionary atonement in Isaiah 53. Through sacrifice, payment for sin has been accomplished; the servant has made blessing again possible for those estranged by sin. Moreover, the servant now lifted up in glory has received the blessings of God for his perfect work and he shares these things with all those who trust in his work.

Finally, from Psalm 16, Paul describes the way in which Jesus’ resurrection points towards an eschatological resurrection for all those who are found in him (cf. 2 Tim. 2:11-12). Unlike David who died and was buried, Jesus never saw corruption; rather in his death, he defeated death because the grave could have no mastery over him. In the end, Jesus was himself vindicated and raised from the dead as the first-fruits of a great harvest to come, where all those who are united to him in baptism (cf. Rom. 6:4-7), will also be reunited to him in his life and resurrection.

Thus Paul, using three key OT texts shows how Jesus fulfilled all the OT promises of kingship, covenant, and resurrection. Turning from explanation to exhortation, Paul concludes his message by calling his hearers to believe in the Christ, to place faith in him and “be freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (13:40). He offers them a gospel of grace–justification by faith, not by works! Simultaneously, he quotes Habakkuk 1:5 and warns them not to reject the offer of God. Whereas in the original context of Habbakuk, YHWH was bringing judgment on the people of Israel because of their sin, now he is offering hope, life, and salvation because the judgment was inflicted on the royal son thus extinguishing once and for all the wrath of God for those who are in the Son. God is still at work, but the righteousness of God is not in the punishment of sin (yet), it is in the offer of free grace purchased at the cost of Jesus blood. In other words, no judgment remains for those in Christ.

For Paul’s audience, this message produced great excitement. The hearers longed to hear more. So much so, that the next week the whole city came out to hear this message (13:44). They came out not to just hear a great preacher, but to hear a great message of salvation. And the result was that many believed. In fact, in accordance with the sovereign will of God, “all those appointed for eternal life believed” (13:48). So great was the effect of this gospel that “the word of the Lord [spread] throughout the whole region” (13:49). The powerful gospel message begun in the Old Testament, manifested in the life of Jesus Christ, and preached by the apostle Paul in Antioch had incredible life-saving results. The same is true today. The gospel of Jesus still saves those who have ears to hear.  Will you believe?

To tell the rest of the story, not all those who heard believed.  Sadly, as quickly as the crowd formed to hear Paul, a band of high standing women and leading men forced the apostle out of the city (13:50). Their ears were not open to hear, their lives were not appointed unto eternal life, and the message of Christ seemed like foolishness to them. Instead of humbly receiving the message of Jesus Christ, they cursed Paul and heaped upon themselves the judgment of God.

Nevertheless, Paul’s message stands! It brought salvation to those who first heard his preaching and it still brings deliverance to those who read Luke’s account.  It remains available to all those who are willing to believe the testimony that Jesus Christ came and fulfilled all the OT promises; he came to die a criminals death on a Roman cross even though he himself never sinned; more miraculously, he rose again from the grave on the third day according to the Scriptures and he has ascended to the right hand of the father where he awaits the culmination of his kingdom. And what does he do in the meantime? He intercedes on behalf of those who trust in his name, and he sends out emissaries who will carry the good news to all the nations. Such is the biblical-theological message of the gospel.  The choice, by God’s grace, is now yours:  Will you hear his voice? Will you believe his good news? Will you go tell the nations? Tell them what?

From the beginning of creation, to the end of the age and beyond, Jesus Reigns! Go in his peace!

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

Acts 13:13-41 (pt. 2, Fall & Redemption)

/ davidsschrock

After Paul addresses his audience and touches on creation, he moves to the heart of the gospel: the desperate lostness of fallen sinners and the compassionate grace of God to provide redemption in Jesus Christ.  Here is the second part of my exposition on Paul’s sermon in Acts 13:

Redemption is the theme of the Bible, and in Abraham redemption begins to take shape. God who made mankind in his image, to bear his likeness, and rule his creation, is now restoring a people for himself. Mankind by way of deception sinned against God, incurred his judgment, and fell under the thralldom of sin and Satan and incurred the righteous judgment of death and damnation (cf. Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12-21). Yet, from the first sin in the garden forward, YHWH has been seeking to save a people for himself (Gen. 3:15), and the covenant with Abraham is the first official announcement of such good news (cf. Gal. 3:8). (The covenant with Noah, though necessary for salvation history to continue, preserves humanity more than it promises redemption).

Moving forward in Paul’s sermon, the great apostle emphasizes the shape of redemption in the story of the Exodus. Paul recounts Israel’s captivity in Egypt and speaks of “the uplifted arm” that delivered the people of Israel from Pharaoh’s afflictions (Acts 13:17). The uplifted arm pictures both Moses lifting the staff at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:6) and more powerfully the effect of God’s righteous right arm which promised salvation for Israel (Ex. 6:6; cf. Isa. 51:5; 52:10; 59:16)—the first connection is literal and historic, the second is an anthropomorphism but just as historic.

Paul goes on to rehearse the salvation history of Israel (Acts 13:18ff). He recounts God’s patient endurance in the wilderness, his powerful leadership in the entry and conquest into the promised land. He references the destruction of the nations (v.18), the exaltation of Israel (v. 19), the cycle of disobedience, judgment, contrition, and deliverance through a God-ordained mediator, and the painful return to disobedience found in Judges (v. 20), and finally the establishment of the king (v.21).  The arrival of the king is a fulfillment of kingdom promises in the Torah; it is also the high point of Israel history, one that would establish an everlasting covenant for David’s descendent to reign on the throne (2 Sam. 7), and one that would permanently guarantees YHWH’s provision of such a king (cf. Is. 9:6-7; 11:1-10; Dan. 2:44-45; etc. ). Though this kingdom tottered and fell, the Messianic promises remain and have now been fulfilled in Christ (v. 23). This leads Paul to his next phase in his sermon.

Moving from ancient Scripture to the recent events of the Messianic fulfillment, Paul recalls the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Verse 23 is the culminating verse, “From the descendents of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus!” Surely the Jewish segment of Paul’s audience would have been tracking with him through the history of Israel, some may have even granted him the inclusion of John the Baptist, but when he turned to Jesus Christ, he was submitting a whole new chapter in the history of God and his revelation. Yet, this is clearly the final crescendo in God’s master symphony. Jesus Christ came as the son of Abraham and the son of David (Matt. 1:1), the recipient of all the promises and the royal son who would sit on the throne of David. He obeyed all the law and thus upheld the covenant long since broken by the rest of Israel (Matt. 5:17-18). In this Paul upholds Jesus as the perfect Israelite who ratified the covenant with YHWH and made a way of salvation for his brethren.

Then Paul, capturing the attention of his audience again, (v. 26), declaims how Jesus was misunderstood, how the Scriptures well-known and well-read in Jerusalem were dismissed concerning Jesus, and how the leaders sought to dispatch of this unruly prophet. Paul recounts the suffering, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus (13:26-29). But as soon as Paul touches the low note of Jesus death, he responds with the positive affirmation of his resurrection from the dead (13:30). The crucified savior is none other than the exalted messiah! In the life of Jesus, both the suffering servant and exalted messiah are embodied. Jesus himself is the message of salvation, and his resurrection is its final and highest proof. This is the good news and the completion of all that God has promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and the prophets, and this is the full-orbed biblical-theological gospel message that Paul left with the Galatians (and us).

The question then becomes, what must I do in to know this Jesus, the risen king, and the triumphant savior?  We will consider Paul’s conclusion tomorrow, but you can know for yourself today today: Acts 13.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

Acts 13:13-41 (pt. 1: Introduction & Creation)

/ davidsschrock
Recently, I had the privilege of teaching in the Senior Saints ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship, i.e. Sunday School) at 9th & O Baptist Church. They have been going through the book of Acts, and my assignment was Acts 13-14. Luke’s account of the church of Antioch and Paul’s first missionary journey are amazing in that within an incredibly short time, the region of Galatia which had not yet heard the gospel had established churches with elders (14:23). It shows the power of the gospel to change lives and to take root in a ripe culture; moreover it shows the fruit of faithful and bold messengers of the gospel.

My threefold layout of the passage which followed thematic lines–it is difficult to do verse-by-verse exposition of two chapters in only 45 minutes–was this: The Church that Sends; The Gospel that Saves; and the Saints who Suffer. Below is the first of three installments of my exposition of Acts 13:13-41. In it Paul lays out with clarity and rigorous attention to the OT, the gospel of Jesus Christ. His message is strikingly biblical-theological, and it is a model of preaching excellence. May we, as students of the word, study its form and content and learn how to better share the gospel.

Paul’s sermon in Acts 13:13-41 is one of many recorded by Luke in his narrative (cf. Acts 14, 17, 20). It is like Peter’s sermons in the way that it employs OT Scripture and provides Christocentric interpretations; it is like Stephen’s in Acts 7 as it covers so much OT history, but in its own right it is very Pauline, espousing themes and theology found later in his epistles.

It is important to realize that this sermon in Acts contains the contents of the gospel to which Paul refers in Galatians 1. In his excoriating letter, he contrasts “his” gospel with the gospel(s) that are being erroneously advocated by false teachers. Since Acts 13 records the gospel which Paul preached to the Galatians, it is vital to follow his train of thought and his Christocentric exposition to understand Paul’s reasoning in his subsequent letter to the Galatians. In Acts, Luke gives us a full report of Paul’s gospel, drawing our attention to the highpoints of his message and allowing us to make the intratextual connections necessary to perceive the Pauline gospel. So with that said, lets consider Paul’s gospel message.

Waiting for the Scripture to be read (v. 15a) and the invitation to be given (v. 15b), Paul, in verse 16, stands to explain the text read in light of Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24:27, 44-46). From his opening line, it is clear that he addresses a mixed audience of Jews and Gentile God-fearers, “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.”

Gaining his audience’s attention, Paul starts in Genesis with a reference to YHWH’s gracious selection of Abraham and his kin from the nations, “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers”. Calling the patriarch from idolatry, the God of Israel’s covenantal love is immediately highlighted. Contrary to modernist religious teachers who say that spirituality and religion are sociological and psychological constructs, God revealed himself to Abraham in history and chose him to be the father of his blessed people. To Abraham and those united to him, he promised a land, untold blessings, a heritage, and his own personal presence in their midst (cf. Gen. 12:1-3; 15:4-7; 17:1-8). The history of Israel chronicles the working out of these covenantal promises.

This Abrahamic beginning implies with it the reality of creation ex nihilo. For the God who called Abraham is the same God who created the heavens and the earth. This is apparent in the narrative of Genesis, where chapters 1-11, which speak about the origin of humanity, are linked via Abraham with chapters 12-50, which initiate God’s plan of redemptive history. Likewise, Paul’s preaching in Acts 14 and 17 explicitly refers to the God of Israel as the God who created all things. He says of YHWH in Lystra that he is the “living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them” (14:16). Clearly, God is the unique Maker of all creation. Thus Paul’s gospel message is founded in creation. He does not demean the corporeal and physical nature of our world. Instead, he roots the origin of creation in the divine design of YHWH, the God of Israel.

This, in and of itself, is good news. God created a bountiful world, one designed to provide pleasures and provisions for all God’s creatures. And though the world, as we know it, contains horrors that undulate with beauty, it was not always that way (cf. Gen 1-2), nor will it always be that way (cf. Rev. 21-22). Taking creation (and its fall) into account, the gospel is not opposed to the inhabitable world. Rather, through redemption, it goes to show how all creation is being renewed and directed on a course towards new creation. For as we will see, the message of the gospel which begins with creation in the Garden of Eden, will culminate in the new creation’s garden-city, the New Jerusalem.

(More to follow…)

Sola Deo Gloria, dss