God of the Ages Acts 13:13-25

Transcription

1 God of the Ages Acts 13:13-25 Above the clouds, I hear my Father s voice. Although my world is veiled in shrouds of mist And every green and growing tree is kissed With moss and mold and challenged by the choice Of pushing past this putrid, present death, I listen for His light and love and life To thunder roll past sorrow, sickness, strife. I hunger for the echo of His breath When sunshine sears and breezes, soundless still, Refuse to blow to calm and cool my frantic brow, When darkness and despair would disallow That hope is still an option for the will. So when I m stunned by silence in my soul By faith alone, I hear His thunder roll. Call it culture shock. John Mark tried to put on a resolute face. But even at Antioch, he was unsettled. The young man had grown up in an exceedingly structured, God-centered society. In fact, until the day he left for Antioch with his Uncle Joseph, Mark knew nothing but that Jewish society. Growing up in Jerusalem, Mark s every moment was dictated by the details of ancient traditions that applied Moses Law. Those myriad rules and regulations were not a burden to the young man, either. They were the smell and feel of home. Of course, there were gentiles in Judea, too. Traders and travelers, soldiers and salesmen were always on the streets. But they were a minority, strangers in a Jewish world. At Antioch, that was reversed. For the first time in his life, Mark was living in a pagan society. People on the street spoke Greek with accents so alien and unfamiliar, Mark could hardly understand them. And that was only the beginning. Customs and courtesies were fearfully foreign. Worst of all, as a Jew he was a member of an isolated minority. Still, at Antioch he had the support of other Jewish saints. But when he followed Barnabus and Paul to Cyprus, he felt like a ship adrift at sea, driven by the wind to unseen shoals. When the missionaries left Cyprus, they sailed north to the port city of Perga. And Mark could control his frantic fears no longer. Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. Verse 13 It is unfair and unreasonable to blame or belittle John Mark for catching a coastal vessel back home to Judea. Paul and Barnabus traveled to strange cities, braving bandits and brigands, crossing swollen streams, and climbing rugged mountains for a reason. The Holy Spirit had specifically called and commanded them to go out as missionaries. Mark

2 had no such call. And as always, that made all the difference. God s Preeminence Perga was swampy and sweltering hot. During the day, the cobbled streets were deserted. And not just because of the heat. Mosquitoes swarmed in buzzing clouds. And many of them carried malaria. So any resident of Perga who could afford it retreated to the steep slopes behind the city. There, the Taurus Mountains loomed like a black wall. And without delay, Paul and Barnabus walked up the Roman road that stretched up those steep mountain slopes. But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. Verse 14 Pisidian Antioch was yet another pagan city with grand temples that were dedicated to idol gods and served by perfumed prostitutes. Public bath houses lined the streets. And brutal, bloody contests were waged in open arenas. However, it was also a bustling business city. So a sizeable Jewish community also lived there, carrying on their customs in isolation from the pagans all around them. So even John Mark would have felt at home on Sabbath days. After all, synagogue services were the same wherever Jews lived. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it. Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: Verses On a yearly schedule, passages from the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) were read aloud. Then a portion of the writings of one of the prophets was also read. After that, there was what the Jews called a word of consolation or exhortation. Usually a synagogue rabbi presented that sermon. But when a visitor was in town, he was invited to speak. And Paul was an honored visitor. As a Pharisee, he had been personally trained and tutored by Gamaliel, Judaism s most renown rabbi. So both the Jews and gentile converts who were present that Sabbath knew he was a scholar of the sacred scrolls. We cannot know what passages from the Law and the Prophets were read that day. But we might make an educated guess. After all, it was the custom for a synagogue speaker to refer to those same portions of Scripture in his remarks. And the apostle s words both recite and refer to verses in the Old Testament. Paul began with a historical review. But his history was not about what the Lord s people did. Instead, it focused exclusively on what their great and glorious God did. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. Verses 17 The Jews had no real claim on the origin of their faith. They did not choose God as the gentiles would as Paul continued to travel and preach. No, the Lord is the one who did the choosing. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, Deuteronomy 7:7-8 That is also true of us. We did not choose God. He chose us. That is what Jesus told His disciples.

3 You did not choose Me but I chose you, John 15:16 That is true of everyone who trusts in Christ. When all of creation was still empty and dark, our Lord already knew each of us. And even then He planned to call us to Himself. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. Ephesians 1:4 But God does more than merely choose. He is also actively and intimately involved in the lives of His chosen people. With the Jews, again and again, it was the Lord who acted. He chose and exalted and led and nurtured and gave and raised up Much of the time, God s people did not realize it. But their Creator God was always working His will for them. Even when they felt they were drowning in pain and problems, the Lord was at work. He was never idle or impotent. In times of trouble and trials when chaos swirls around us, we must remember that. Our God is at work. And He never fails. God s Power Paul selected specific stories to emphasize. And he did so with great care. The apostle wanted his countrymen to remember that the Lord they served is a personal, powerful God. He is also, the apostle asserted, a God of wisdom with a sovereign will. Out of a world full of people, the Lord chose Abraham. And that choice was neither clinical nor callous. God chose Abraham to be His personal friend. Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. James 2:23 God s precious and powerful Spirit still calls men and women to be His personal friends. And just as He did with the Jews, He would exalt them, even in the very worst of times. During the dark days when they were slime pit slaves, God made a great nation out of Abraham s descendants. In His perfect time, He also delivered His people from bondage to wicked men. And He did so with such power that Egypt s pharaoh cast Israel out under compulsion. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. When we struggle as slaves to sin, we should remember that. Our God is able to deliver us, even from the power of the prince of darkness who rules this world. Indeed, there is no attitude that is so deeply rooted, there is no addiction that is so powerful that God cannot and will not deliver us. And even when we wander into doubt and defeat, into sin and selfishness, He will continue to care for us. For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. Verse 18 Ancient manuscripts disagree about the verb in that verse. Some have a word that differs by a single letter, changing the meaning....for about forty years He tenderly cared for them in the uninhabited region, Verse 18 (WENT) One reading describes God as putting up with the Jews during their rebellious desert wandering. And that is certainly true. Our Lord had good and godly grounds to destroy His people in the wilderness. The other version describes our Lord as caring for the Jews like a tender, compassionate Father.

4 And that is also true. The latter version is almost a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy. So that is probably the preferable reading....in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, Deuteronomy 1:31 However, both are true. When we are wayward, wicked and wandering, our God does not abandon us. Instead, as a loving Father, He corrects and chastises us. Neither does our eternal Father forgo providing all we need. He does not stand back and allow illnesses and accidents to ravage us. Neither does He withdraw the food we need, just as He continued to feed Israel during the days when their wickedness was at its worst. God did not abandon Israel when they finally crossed the Jordan into Canaan, either. He was still their protector and provider. When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Verses When Joshua led Israel, the Lord overwhelmed seven separate nations. Then He raised up men to serve as judges: men who were both warriors for His people and rulers over them. However, after Israel defeated Jericho, their army was routed by a handful of soldiers at an enemy outpost at Ai. And it seemed God had failed. In the same way, leaders like Samson lost their way. And once again it looked like the Lord had failed. But He had not. The system of government He ordained with the judges did not fail, either. And the people were misled and mistaken when they demanded a king....they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. Verse 21 Even the idea of being ruled by a king was not a failure. True, Saul turned out to be selfish, sinful and savage. But he failed for the same reason many other kings failed. God had no choice but to appoint sinful men to places of leadership. He had nothing but sinful men to choose from. Still, God did not lose control. And when we worry and fret over wicked leaders today, we can be encouraged that our God has not failed. He is still on the throne. And He will prevail. God s Purpose From Abraham on, everything the Lord of glory did was guided by promises He made to Abraham: the man He called His friend. So when all of Israel served as slaves, God did not forget them. He promised the patriarch He would make His descendants a great nation. And that is just what He did. He also promised the patriarch his descendants would live in the land of Canaan. So when Abraham s seed were slaves in Egypt, God delivered them. When they stood on the eastern banks of the Red Sea with the Egyptian army thundering down upon them, the Lord parted the waters. And for forty years, He led them in the desert, providing perfect food for them to eat, even when they were wicked and wrong. That is also why Abraham s God went ahead of Israel as a warrior. The Lord defeated Canaan s inhabitants and distributed their land as an inheritance to keep His promise to Abraham. If we learn nothing else from that, we must never forget that God always honors His promises.

5 He is eternally faithful. He is the God who cannot lie. And what He promises, He performs. So when we face problems that seem insurmountable, all we have to do is find the promise God has made concerning our need. We can confidently claim that promise in our prayers. We need not struggle with weak faith, either. We can base our faith upon the unshakable foundation of God s Word and the eternal faithfulness of our Father. After King Saul failed so miserably, God did not wait for the people to approve a new king. He raised up a king Himself. After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all My will. Verse 22 Samuel was not only the last judge. He was also a prophet. So God sent him to Bethlehem. The new king, the Lord assured the old man, was the son of man named Jesse. At Bethlehem, Samuel discovered that Jesse had seven sons. But in the prophet s eyes, the eldest of them, Eliab, seemed like the perfect candidate for a king to rule Israel. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 When the Lord looked at David s heart, He liked what He saw. Here was a man who hungered for His presence. And even when he was alone with his sheep, he delighted to sing praises to his God. Yes, as every critic is quick to remind us, David was not perfect. He made some serious mistakes. He was not the kind of father to his children he should have been. And he was undeniably guilty of adultery and murder. But despite his weaknesses, his heart was a reflection of his Redeemer s. And when he sinned, his repentance was sincere and his tears were genuine. No, David was not perfect. He was not capable of perfection any more than you and I are. But he was a man who loved and lived for the Lord. That is why God gave him the grandest of all promises. From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus Verse 23 God promised David He would raise up a righteous Ruler from among the shepherd king s descendants. And that is just what He did....after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie. Verses Even in far off pagan cities, Jews had heard about John the Baptist, the righteous desert prophet. And Paul wanted them to know what that godly man said about David s descendant, Jesus. Throughout Jewish history the same problem polluted God s perfect will. All of the men He raised up were sinners. But this Man, Jesus of Nazareth, was not like other men. He was and is and ever shall be the sinless Son of God. He is the One we are to trust in. He laid down His life and shed His blood to pay the penalty for our sins. He is the guiding goal God has worked toward since the very beginning. And He is God s goal for you and me.