in verse 13 of Acts chapter 13. Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 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. And after 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. So Paul stood up and motioned with his hands said, men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 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. And for about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 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. Of this man's offspring, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 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. Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 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. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 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. But God raised him from the dead. 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. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 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. 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. Therefore he says also in another psalm, you will not let your holy ones see corruption. 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. But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 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. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the prophets should come about. 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. Let's pray. God, I pray that your spirit would work in each of us to help us to see in your word truth about you, and that that seeing of your word would then go right through our eyes and into our brains and deep down into our hearts. That what we hear you say, God, you would use to change us. Help us to love your word and the way it reveals Christ. God, where we don't understand, humble us that we would come before you and be taught by you. God, may your word give us life, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. As Paul, the apostle, preached about Jesus across the Roman Empire, he used the Hebrew scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. That's what he's doing in Acts chapter 13, because he's speaking to a Jewish audience. My hope today is to help you see how Paul is using the Old Testament. What point is he trying to make with these Old Testament passages? Now, I know some of you already have a good working knowledge of the Old Testament and how these things connect, and so my hope is that this would help you deepen your wonder at what God has done, and therefore deepen your love for God. Now, if you don't feel like you have a good working knowledge of the Old Testament, I don't want to leave you out. There is a really nerdy part of this sermon where I want to go down a deep rabbit hole, but I don't want to leave anybody behind in no way. As a matter of fact, if you want to understand the Old Testament, it simply takes time. It's going to take a long time, and I hope over the next months and years you would pursue understanding what God has said. It's a big ancient book, so be patient with yourself. Nonetheless, you can follow along. I hope that as I work through this passage, you will hear the truth about Jesus clearly, even if you've never opened the Bible before. We can look at Acts chapter 13 and hear the message of what God has done in Jesus clearly. So we're gonna take basically those two tracks, whether you're a Bible beginner or a Bible familiar or Bible nerd, my prayer is that God would speak to you today in his word and help your love for Jesus grow deeper, even if you've never met him, that today you would meet him clearly. So Acts chapter 13, 16 through 41, Paul's sermon in Antioch, I'm gonna break it down in six points, six propositions. Number one, this is like note taker's paradise, right? Six points, numbered points. Number one, Jesus is Jewish. So if you're gonna set out to know Jesus, to study Jesus, you are immersing yourself in the world of ancient Israel. Notice how Paul appeals to the history of Israel. He's speaking to Jews and God-fearers. God-fearers, remember, are non-Jewish people, Gentiles, who choose to worship the God of Israel. So listen to what he says, verse 16. Men of Israel and those who fear God, listen. 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. And for about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness. After destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. And then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. In that little section, six sentences, Paul sums up 450 years of history. That's impressive. His point is that the story of Israel is the revelation of God. The one true God has chosen one people to make him known to the world and that people is the people of Israel, the Jewish people. And Jesus is born into the nation of Israel. It's a historical fact. He's Jewish. Why is that important? Paul starts to narrow in on the kings of Israel. He mentions Saul and then next comes David. Pick it up in verse 22. And when God had removed Saul, when he had removed him, God removed Saul, 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 own heart, who will do all my will. Now here is your first quotation from the Old Testament. I say quotation with a question mark because actually this is not an Old Testament quotation. It's actually three different passages. We'll look at two of them. They're sort of mixed up and mashed together to make one point. So let me show you how Paul's doing this. He's pulling a few different places from the Old Testament. The first is from Psalm 89. I encourage you, if you want, keep your finger bookmarked in Acts 13. We'll jump back there a bunch. You could look for Psalm 89. It's right about in the middle of your Bible. Psalm 89 is a song about God's covenant promise with Israel. God had made this promise about King David. So Psalm 89 is celebrating the promise of God that He made through David. And listen to what it says in Psalm 89 verse 20. This is what Paul's quoting in Acts 13. He says, I have found David my servant. With holy oil I have anointed him. That's what Paul's quoting. Part of what he's doing is pulling together this psalm, it's a long psalm, about God's covenant promises and saying we're talking about that promise and that David from Psalm 89, making the point that David is the chosen king of Israel, That point is going to be even more firmly made back in 1 Samuel. So if you're in Psalms, you've got to go to the left quite a ways. You'll hit 1 Samuel. And we're going to look at 1 Samuel chapter 13. So Samuel was the prophet in Israel. Paul mentioned him in Acts chapter 13. Saul's the king. What's happening here in 1st Samuel 13 is God is removing Saul as king and inserting David. And he's explained why he's removing Saul. So 1st Samuel 13 verse 14 says, But now your kingdom shall not continue. Speaking to Saul. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. So you see the reference there to God seeking out a man after his own heart, a king after his own heart. So back to Acts 13, he's putting together Psalm 89, 1 Samuel 13, and he says in Acts chapter 13, verse 15. It's not 15, that's not right. Acts chapter 13, verse 22, I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He's referring to David. Why do you think it is that Paul is pulling these quotations together? It seems kind of random. There's a really fascinating theory. Remember? We read it in Acts chapter 13 that in the synagogue they read from the Law and the Prophets. That would have been normal in synagogue worship to read a couple of passage and probably then give a sermon on the passages that were read. So one theory is that one of those passages or perhaps both of those passages are what they read on that day in the synagogue. And Paul is now standing up to explain the impact of those passages and the fulfillment of them in Jesus. That's a really cool theory. I don't, we can't know for sure. What we can know is the point that Paul is making in Acts chapter 13. It's that David was God's chosen king for Israel. That's the point he's making in Acts 13. And, verse 23 of Acts 13, of this man's offspring, of David's offspring, God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, as he promised. This is the leap. Let's say they read those scriptures about David and Paul saying, okay, God chose a king. He chose David, but he didn't choose David. He chose David's offspring. And that offspring that he was choosing is Jesus. He is the Savior that God promised to David. God had promised in 2 Samuel chapter 7 that he would send a king in David's line who would be the Savior of the world. Now, I'm going to read this promise. It's from 2 Samuel 7. When God makes this promise to David, and I want you to listen to how he promises that his son, a descendant in his line, is going to be a ruler forever, a king forever. This is from 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 11. It says, the Lord declares to you, speaking to David, that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of man, and with the stripes of the son of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever." The first point I want you to see what Paul's doing is to establish that Jesus is the offspring of David. He is the forever King of Israel, or to say it very short, Jesus is Jewish. There's a lot wrapped up in that. Just grab that point. Second point that I want you to latch onto in Paul's sermon is that Jesus is historical. We read the Bible, it is history. Real events, real people in real places. Look again at Acts chapter 13. We started reading in verse 13 and you hear all these cities. Paphos, Pergaea, Pamphylia is actually a region. These are real places. Paphos is on the island Cyprus, which is in the Mediterranean Sea. Pergaea is a city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what we would call modern-day Turkey. Pamphylia is a region in southern Turkey. And then he travels up to Pisidia, Antioch, which would also be a city in modern-day Turkey. These are real places, real people. The Bible is full of history. As a matter of fact, even today we measure history from Jesus. B.C. means before Christ. A.D. Anno Domini. which means in the year of our Lord. So we measure history, even though I know now they say like current era and before current era, well, guess what we measure the current era from? Jesus. So I don't know why you wanna spin it that way. We measure it from Jesus. He's a historical person. And I say that and encourage you Christians, just keep in mind that people in your life who have not yet learned about Jesus or believed in Jesus, they may not know that Jesus is a historical figure. And it's good for you to encourage them to recognize we're not talking about fiction. These are not made up stories, these are real people. And so Paul, even in his sermon to the Jews in Pisidia Antioch, wants to position Jesus historically. Look at Acts chapter 13, we're in verse 24 now. Before his coming, before Jesus' coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, what do you suppose that I am? I'm not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie. Why would Paul mention John the baptizer, John the Baptist? It's because John was famous. Like, to the people who he was talking to. Paul's preaching within a few years of Jesus' death. And which would be within a few years of John the Baptist's death. So it's quite likely that there were Jewish people in Antioch who could say, I was baptized by John. They had a historical frame of reference for who John was. And Paul's making clear the Jesus I'm talking about is the Jesus that came right after John the Baptist. These were real people in real places and real events. And 2,000 years later, as we're sitting here reading the book of Acts about the apostle Paul, Jesus, we are reading history. I can understand if someone would say though, okay, how do I know it's true? I know when I was a kid and I grew up in church and I was listening to all these Bible stories, maybe kids, I don't know, maybe you could understand this. Maybe you'll think like this sometimes. My thought was, how do I know like a group of people didn't get together in a cave and just make all this up? And of course, as a kid, I didn't ask anybody that question. But those are the kind of thoughts you have. And kids, I don't know if you've ever thought that, like thought, I wonder if somebody just made this whole thing up. I guarantee most of the adults in the room have thought that thought and asked that question. What's the answer? How do I know that this story about Jesus is true? Here's the answer. Lots of people saw Jesus. They wrote down what they saw and then other people who saw Jesus checked and make sure they got it right. The Bible is true history because the abundance of eyewitness accounts. If someone made it all up, if Paul was making up what he was saying about Jesus, there were people sitting in Antioch who could probably say that didn't happen. But there were plenty of people sitting in Antioch who would probably say, no, actually that is what happened. We were there, we were baptized by John, we saw some of these events. We can trust the Bible because of the abundance of eyewitness accounts. So Paul can point to Jesus in Acts 13 and John and say, you remember those events? John's baptism, Jesus's miracles, Jesus's death, Jesus's resurrection, they're true. And he points out later, there's many witnesses, eyewitnesses of these accounts. And four of those eyewitness accounts are the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And those are the most historically reliable documents known to man. So just underscore that. Jesus is historical. This is true stuff. And at this point you should be asking, why? Okay, Jesus is Jewish, Jesus is historical. What's the big deal? Why do we care so much about this Jesus? And here's the answer. Paul gives it in verse 26. The answer is that Jesus is God's plan to save the world. It's God's plan to save the world. That's point number three. Jesus is God's plan to save the world. Look at Acts 13, 26. Brothers, this is what Paul preaches to the people in Antioch. Sons of the family of Abraham, those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. So Jesus is God's plan to save the world. God has an eternal purpose for all of the universe. Everything that God has made and does centers on Jesus. That's why we care so much about him. And he comes for salvation. Now salvation implies something's wrong. There's something that's in peril. Do a little thought exercise with me for a moment. The reason that you and I ask really big questions about the world that we live in is because we are not satisfied with the way things are. It works like this. If you were starving, you would be asking the question, where will my next meal come from? Where can I possibly get some food so that I can live? But have you ever noticed that when your belly is full, you don't ask that question. You don't ponder the future of your food. You simply are satisfied in how you're full. Okay, that works for our bellies. Our brains work the same way. The reason that you ask big questions, like what's the point of everything, is because in some way you are not satisfied with everything. What's the point of the universe? Well, it's because you recognize that there's something in this universe that's broken. And of course, when you try to answer that question, it's the brokenness of everything that can drive us mad trying to explain it. The claim of the Apostle Paul, my claim to you, is that Jesus answers every question. He explains everything because He is the point of God's eternal purposes. So trust in Jesus, faith in Jesus, opens the door to eternal satisfaction. Because for all those really big questions we might ask about the universe, the biggest questions that you and I ask are about ourselves. You ask questions like, who am I? Why am I here? What's wrong with me? And I think that question's probably the one that most bothers all of us, because we see it, and we feel that we're broken, and we're sick, and we're in danger, and we're dying, and we're in prison, and we're cursed. And we say, why is that? And the truth is it's because you are, and I am. Our greatest need is to be saved, to be rescued, to be renewed. And that's why Jesus was born. He is God's plan to bring that salvation, to fix everything that's wrong with you and to save the world. And he does that through death and resurrection. Listen to how Paul says it. Acts 13, we're in verse 27 now. 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. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 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, but God raised him from the dead. 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." And there's history there, right? The Jewish rulers, Pilate, Jesus' death and resurrection, but there's more than that. Paul says, these events happened as God said they would. written in the prophets, written in the scriptures, now being explained by eyewitnesses. So everything that happened to Jesus historically, God had spoken of for centuries before. Now, if you were to ask, okay, where in the Bible, where in the Old Testament does it prophesy the death and resurrection of Jesus? If I were to answer that question, we could be here for years and years for the rest of our lives, walking page by page through the countless connections from what God had done in all of history to Jesus. That's kind of what we do every week when we gather together for worship. We open God's Word. We try to understand how everything centers on Jesus. I'm going to show you just one scripture in a few minutes in Psalm 16. But there is an abundance of testimony in the Old Testament that Jesus would die and rise. I want you to focus, though, on the big picture of why. It's God's plan for salvation. So in dying and rising, what does Jesus do? Just keep reading, and we're in Acts 13. Now we're in verse 32. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, his children, by raising Jesus. As also it is written in the second psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. 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. Therefore, he says also in another psalm, you will not let your holy ones see corruption. 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. But he whom God raised up, that's Jesus, did not see corruption. 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. So what does Jesus do? Why is this so important? What kind of salvation are we talking about? Jesus gives forgiveness and freedom. You don't have to understand all the mechanics of the Old Testament or all the mechanics of your own heart to understand that something is wrong and what you desperately need is forgiveness. And yes, something is wrong. You and I have sinned against God. And Jesus provides perfect forgiveness and freedom from the curse of sin. So you should be telling people who are not Christians, and if you are not a Christian, you should hear this message clearly. You need to put your faith in Jesus because he forgives your sin. He sets you free from the burden and curse of sin. He is God's plan for the salvation of the world. And His resurrection is the proof that that's true. This is point number four. His resurrection is the proof. And this is where we get to nerd out a little bit, because what we just read in verses 32 through 35, three quotations from the Old Testament, all of which Paul connects to Jesus's resurrection. I'm not going to take them in order. I'm going to take them in logical order, not necessarily in the order that Paul gave them. So just look again at verses 32 and 33. We're trying to understand if Jesus is the Savior of the world, how do I know that's true, and the resurrection of Jesus is the proof? So pick it up again, verse 32. Paul says, we bring to you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, his children, by raising Jesus. We're talking about the resurrection. Now, jump ahead. We will come back, don't worry. Jump ahead to verse 35. Still talking about the resurrection. Therefore, he says also in another psalm, you will not let your holy ones see corruption. That's a quote from Psalm 16. You might want to turn over there. Roughly in the middle of your Bible, Psalm 16. Beautiful psalm. When you get to Psalm 16, we're going to look at verse 9. The beginning of the psalm, and this is significant, says it's a psalm of David. It says it's a mitkem of David. A mitkem, we don't know what that is, probably some musical term. We do know who David is, the great king of Israel. And so this is a prayer, a song of David. Psalm 16, listen to what David says about himself in verse 9. He says, therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure. And here's what Paul quotes in Acts chapter 13, verse 10 of Psalm 16. You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption. So Sheol, in the Old Testament, Hebrew is the place of the dead, the grave. David's gladness is that God would not abandon him in the grave. That's good. David is not naive, though. He doesn't have some sort of thought that he will not die. Rather, David is hopeful that beyond death, God will give him eternal life. That's David's hope. Now, listen to how Paul connects that in Acts 13. Because he quotes from Psalm 16, David's hope for eternal life, but he says it wasn't talking about David. In Acts 13, verse 36, for David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his father and saw corruption. There we go. David died. David was buried. So how can Psalm 16 be true? Well, it's because it's not about David. It's about David's greater son. It's about Jesus. That's why Paul goes on to argue, verse 37, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. So every hope that David had of eternal life wasn't wrapped up in David, but wrapped up in Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus then proves that he's the promised offspring of David. He's the true and final king of Israel and the true and final king of the world. This is point five. Jesus is actually the king of the world. His resurrection proves that he is the ruler over the entire universe. The promised king in David's line is the eternal king of all kings. That's why we're still talking about Jesus 2,000 years later in Kennewick, Washington. It's because Jesus is not just king of a sliver of land over in the Middle East. He is king over the world. Now again, in Acts chapter 13, this is Paul's point. Since Jesus is resurrected, Psalm 16 is true, therefore he's king. So I'm kind of going out of order here, but look at Psalm 13, 32 again. We bring you this good news that what God promised to the fathers, 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. So as he says, he's quoting the second Psalm. Turn over to Psalm 2. We were studying this the last two Sundays in Sunday school, so some of you have a leg up here on the context of Psalm 2. But Psalm 2 is a coronation song. It's God putting his king on the throne. It's about David. God saying, this is my king, the one I've chosen, the one after my own heart. But Paul, in Acts 13, quotes Psalm 2 in relation to Jesus. So he quotes from Psalm 2, verse 7. I'm actually gonna read the whole Psalm. Because you need to hear the whole picture. So Psalm 2 says, why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointment saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his furious saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now, therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. The whole Psalm, Psalm 2. Now in Acts 13, Paul connects that to Jesus' resurrection. His point is that since Jesus has been raised, according to Psalm 16, he's the king in David's line. And since he's the king in David's line, according to Psalm 2, he's actually the king of the world. You notice in Psalm 2 how it puts every king on notice? When God crowns his eternal king, the whole world has been notified that they are not the true kings. So that's everybody from Tiberius Caesar, who was ruling at the time of Paul's sermon in Antioch, to Donald Trump. Every king from Caesar Nero to Vladimir Putin has been put on notice, there is actually one true king in this world, and it's Jesus. You can serve him, and he will prove a good and gracious king. Or you can rebel against him, and he will destroy you. Now you and I are not kings, but the warning and the promise still remain for us. The response to Jesus as Savior is to confess your sins and be forgiven and set free. The response to Jesus as King is to pledge your allegiance to him and take refuge in him and serve him and know his joy and his blessings. Blessings that actually extend to you and me and to the ends of the earth. And this is point number six. The blessings that Jesus brings as Savior and King are for you. Paul makes this point with his third quotation, second quotation, third that we're gonna look at in Acts 13. One other passage that he quotes, and it's a bit of a curve ball. Pick it up again in Acts 13, 32. We bring you the good news that God promised to the fathers that he has fulfilled to us as children by raising Jesus. As also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have forgotten you. And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David. Well, where does that come from? It comes from Isaiah 55, we'll get there in a minute. Let me try to unpack the logic. Here's Paul's logic. The blessing that God promised to David is an eternal kingdom. Jesus, an offspring of David, a descendant of David, has been crowned the eternal king by God in being raised from the dead. Therefore, David's hope of eternal life is realized in Jesus. and the blessings of eternal life that were hoped for by David now extend to you and me who believe in Jesus. That's a big, long, logical sentence, right? But it's because Jesus is the King in David's line, the blessings that David expected are also yours if you have faith in Jesus. And to make that point, Paul quotes from Isaiah 55. So if you turn around in your Bible, Isaiah falls a bit after the Psalms, the big book. So you can kind of randomly flip around in the middle of your Old Testament, you'll find Isaiah eventually. Isaiah 55. And it will sound a little different as we read it because our English Bibles are translating Hebrew texts into English. Paul seems to be referencing the Greek version of the Old Testament. It's probably a conversation for a different day, but it's all the same. Don't worry. It's all heading the same direction. Isaiah 55 verses 3 through 5. Listen to what this says. and come to me and hear that your soul may live, this is God speaking, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast sure love to David. So that's what Paul's quoting in Acts 13. God's saying, come to me and I'm gonna give you the blessings of David. What are the blessings of David? Eternal life through resurrection. Verse 4, Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commanders for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you. Because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel for He has glorified you. So hear what he's saying. He's gonna raise up an offspring of David to be king and to give the blessings of God, eternal life to the whole world. And that's going to extend beyond Israel to nations that don't know you yet. Nations that are far away. Nations that are going to stream and run to Christ for forgiveness. So to simplify that. If you listen to the voice of God calling you to faith. and you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life. That promise is for me, and for you, and for anyone on the earth. The salvation that Jesus offers is for anyone who believes. That's why, and we didn't read it today, but at the end of Acts chapter 13, A week later, the whole city shows up to hear Paul preach, because they're picking up this reality that he's telling us that somebody can forgive us, all of us. There's salvation for Jesus, or sorry, salvation in Jesus for all people. Now I know that the last like 30 minutes have been drinking from a bit of a fire hose. It's okay to feel a little overwhelmed and amazed at what God has done in Jesus, because it's like gloriously more than we can manage. But I don't want to overwhelm you to the point of confusion. I want clarity. You want clarity. So let's land where Paul lands in Acts 13. Acts 13, verse 38. It says, let it be known 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. Beware therefore, lest what is said in the prophets should come about, 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. That's our last Old Testament quote that we get from Paul in this sermon. It comes from Habakkuk 1.5. I'm not gonna turn there or read it as much as I want to, but I want you just to get the point. Paul is presenting Jesus as a crossroads for all of us. There are only two things that you can do with Jesus. You either believe in him or you beware of him. Paul's warning is a plea to believe. Don't hear this news about Jesus and reject him. You will perish in your sins. Rather, be saved by Jesus. Paul says, sorry, you might think you know, about this Jesus business that we Christians are always talking about things that seem foreign, that seem fictional, because we don't see it, we can't touch it. Good reasonable questions are to say, is Jesus really the king of this world? Like, because what we do is we turn on the news, we don't turn on the news anymore, we look at the news on our phones, right, on tablets or whatever, and we look at the world around us, we say, how can I say that Jesus is king? That's what God was saying to Habakkuk. See, you look at what you can see, but if you knew what I was doing, you might not even believe it if someone told you about it. It's the same thing with Jesus. Just because you don't see him as King and Savior right now doesn't mean he's not King and Savior. It probably means you're just not looking for him. You may not see what God is doing, but you can seek it out. And when you seek it out, God gives you the eyes of faith to see it. You can start just with history, seek out the historical Jesus. The evidence is stunning. But the real issue, of course, is not history, it's your heart. Will you trust that God is doing things that you don't immediately see or understand? He's calling you to trust Him, and then He'll help you see it. Jesus is not hidden. God's truth is not hidden. He's revealed it in His Word. We can open it and read it. The issue is our hearts. Will we believe what God has said about Jesus and live and be free and be forgiven, or will we scoff and perish? Paul warns, beware. To reject Jesus is rebellion against him and you will perish forever. That's why we Christians can keep going back down these same paths over and over and over, reminding ourselves again and again of God's plan to bring salvation to the world through the Savior King, Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, and the hope of the whole world. We keep going back to this because we want to deepen our knowledge. Yeah, that's wonderful. I love deepening knowledge. We read that in Psalm 111, right, in our call to worship. that those who delight in the truths about God study them. That's so true. I love deepening knowledge. That's not enough. That's not what we're really after. We're after a deeper sight and vision of the beauty of Jesus that we would deepen our love for God and our worship for God. See him, behold him, believe in him as your savior and king forever. Let's pray. God, your word is so wonderful. And God, as we're bouncing all over the place in it, I pray that you would help us to see the wonderful plan that you've been working from beginning to end. God, for my brothers and sisters, sometimes we will doubt and struggle and wonder, can we really trust this? Can we really believe this gospel? God, when our hearts condemn us, help us to trust you. You're greater than our hearts. And God also give us the tools and equip us to open our mouths and tell people who aren't Christians this wonderful, glorious truth of what you have done in Jesus. It's stunning how you've put together all these events through all of history pointing to one singular person, one final event, his death and resurrection as the hope for eternal life. But thank you for giving us this gift of the gospel. Thank you for seeking us out and forgiving us. Thank you for making us new in Christ. Thank you for giving us your word. We praise you for it in Jesus name. Amen.