Sunday, February 18, 2024 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church iconSunnyside Baptist Church

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Sunnyside Baptist Church Michael Dirrim, Pastor

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Our King, Your Son. We praise
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You for bestowing unto us all the blessings that we would ever need, and more, having given us
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Your Son, You have sent us Your Spirit. We may know You and fellowship with You and offer our praise and our supplication to You.
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And we may know You as our Heavenly Father and be sealed in Christ for all that is yet to come.
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So we ask for Your blessings upon us today as we read Your Word. I pray that You would humble us before Your truth and we would pay close attention to what
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You have to say and to rejoice in it. That You would grant to us a warmth of heart and that it would be a genuine amen in our lives concerning this
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Word that You have declared from heaven. We pray for these mercies for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the one with whom
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You are well -pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your
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Bibles and turn with me to Acts 13. Acts chapter 13. We will be reading verses 30 through 41 as we continue to consider the glad tidings of the resurrection of Jesus.
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In this, the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent
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His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.
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And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent
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His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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To you, this Word of salvation has been sent.
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Someone one day told you. Someone told you this
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Word. Glad tidings of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
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Good news about Jesus Christ. My mother told me about every night.
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My father preached it week by week. And so by God's grace,
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I heard, and by God's grace, I believed. But who told my mom and dad? Other believers told them.
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And who told them? Other believers did. The good news of Jesus Christ, the glad tidings of the risen
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Lord Jesus. If you were given the gift of spiritualancestry .com,
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you would trace this witness like a river. You would trace this witness like a river winding through history.
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And along the way, you would see lush seasons of gospel advance and arid terrain of struggle.
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You might be surprised watching the struggles in each witness's life.
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How often they died young. How illiterate some of them were. How ignorant of the impact that they had.
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How discouraged they often were with no idea of how
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God was using them in the advance of the kingdom and the progress of the gospel of Jesus. Follow the river further than you can.
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Push it further back. And you come to the book of Acts. And there you find Paul and Barnabas and Antioch of Pisidia preaching the gospel to the
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Jews and the God -fearers there gathered on the Sabbath in that synagogue. Push back farther.
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And you find Ananias declaring the gospel to Saul of Tarsus in Damascus.
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And you find Peter preaching in the temple in Jerusalem.
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Push it back farther. Even into the shadow lands where gospel came by promise.
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But ultimately you take this golden road and it arrives at the throne. For the river of the water of life flows from the throne.
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The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son and empowers the witness of the gospel in every generation gathering all the saints into the new
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Jerusalem on Mount Zion and so. Let's listen to it again.
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This gospel preaching. The declaration of the glad tidings of the resurrection of Jesus.
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And remember, it's part of this river. I invite you to stand with me as I read
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God's holy word. Beginning in verse 30 of Acts 13.
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This is the word of the Lord. But God raised him from the dead.
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He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are his witnesses to the people.
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And we declare to you glad tidings. That promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children and that he has raised up Jesus.
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As it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And that he raised him from the dead no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus.
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I will give you the sure mercies of David. Therefore, he also says in another
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Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep and was buried with his fathers and saw corruption.
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But he whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.
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And by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
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Beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold, you despisers marvel and perish.
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For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe though one were to declare it to you.
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This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Proverbs 26 contains some of my most favorite cartoons of all time.
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One right after the other. Each one, if you'll just take your time and think about each proverb, each sentence as it comes, you'll find that it's better than any
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Sunday morning cartoon in the paper. Especially since it's inspired by God and it's both full of humor and everlasting truth for us to ponder.
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One of my favorites is verse six of Proverbs 26. He who sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
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Now that's funny. That's funny. When you think about a man who has a very important message, perhaps peace of his kingdom depends on it.
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Perhaps proper trade relations depends on this. Perhaps the whole fortune of his household depends on this messenger getting the message right to the right person, but he sends his message by the hand of the fool.
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And what happens? God does not send fools. God sends the poor in spirit.
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He sends those who mourn. He sends the meek and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
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God sends the merciful and the pure in heart and the peacemakers. He sends us as sheep into the midst of wolves, salt to be scattered, lamps to be burned, a city set on a hill under siege.
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Some are mocked and punished. Some put to unjust trial and imprisonment.
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Some are threatened. Some are beaten, mocked, killed.
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Some wander about impoverished, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, taking rest where they may.
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They make their refuge in Christ, each one looking to the resurrection, the messengers and the message.
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The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important fact in all of history. And those who would declare it, the messengers of God's glad tidings, ought to declare that message in a particular way that pleases the
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One who has sent us. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most vital, happy, and serious news.
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And we are called to declare that message. We have thought of the power of the resurrection in verse 30 and the proof of the resurrection in verse 31.
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Having declared this and demonstrated this, now we find the preaching of the resurrection in verse 32.
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Paul and Barnabas stand before the Jews and the God -fearers in this synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, up in the mountains of this
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Roman province. And Paul says this, and we declare to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers, that promise which was made to the fathers.
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And you're looking at Paul and Barnabas and you're thinking, way to go, apostles, missionaries, very important people.
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I do not want you to think that what Paul and Barnabas do here in Acts 13 is something for apostles only, or that the manner that they went about it is for the ancients only, or that the way that they talked only worked in Antioch only.
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All Christians are to confess Christ before men. All of us are spirit and dwelt messengers of glad tidings, all of us.
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There is proper order in the worship and the teaching of the church. Some are qualified to teach and preach and exercise authority in the church, and others are not.
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There's a creation order spelled out for us in the New Testament to tell us that some men are qualified and others are not, and that women are not to teach or hold authority in the church over men.
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But this is based upon creation and it's not based upon any kind of expertise or the times or the culture in which we live.
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So I'm not talking about preaching in the church or preaching in the pulpit or teaching a mixed group in a
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Sunday school. Nonetheless, the birth cry of the saints and the birthright by the spirit of every
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Christian is the declaration of the good news of Jesus Christ to our brothers, our sisters, our parents, our children, our neighbors, our community, our neighbors, strangers, and so forth.
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Every single one of us. When Peter preached at Pentecost, he said that the spirit came upon everybody in the new covenant to proclaim the truths of God.
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And he did so, male and female alike. So while some will in our day look at that passage and say it's the birth cry of all the saints and the birthright by the spirit for male and female to all preach the gospel,
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I agree, but that doesn't mean that we put women in place of authority in the church to teach others. Why?
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Because we're really mean. We're old -fashioned, patriarchal, good old boys club and we hate women.
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No, because the scripture said so and Jesus knows how to order his church. I don't know how to love my wife if it wasn't for Jesus.
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I don't know how to raise my kids if it wasn't for Jesus. I don't know how to order the church if it wasn't for Jesus. He's the head of the church.
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He's the head of my home. He's the head of this world. He gets to say. And at the same time, he wants each one of us to preach the gospel.
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The women took the good news of his resurrection to the disciples and that was wonderful news, wasn't it?
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That's not preaching in the church, that's preaching the gospel to every creature under heaven. Can we distinguish the difference?
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I hope we can distinguish the difference and rejoice in that difference. Now, noting that we are all to proclaim the good news, the glad tidings of the resurrection of Jesus, let's think about what the preaching includes.
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What does it include? The text says it is the declaration of glad tidings, glad tidings.
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Paul says, and we declare to you glad tidings. Three English words have to cover the one
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Greek verb. Declare glad tidings comes from a Greek word from which we get our
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English evangelize, euangelizo. Now, when somebody heard gospelize or euangelizo in their day, if they heard somebody saying, we declare to you glad tidings, the first thing they're going to think about is the new
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Roman emperor. The new Roman emperor. Whenever a new emperor went to the throne, ascended to the throne and succeeded the previous emperor, then a message came out from Rome to the whole empire and it was called glad tidings, good news.
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And the whole empire received the euangelion, the gospel of this new godlike emperor who was declared to be
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Soter and Curios, savior and Lord. Savior and Lord were the titles of the
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Roman emperor. The church went out and proclaimed, not Caesar is Lord, not
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Caesar is savior, but Jesus Christ is savior and Lord. And indeed, a new king of kings and a new lord of lords had indeed ascended to his new throne.
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And thus it was time for good news that would shape the entirety of the world. And I think maybe sometimes the old timers in Antioch of Pisidia were a bit jaded when they heard this term.
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Oh, here's another royal announcement. Here's another bit of good news about how this emperor is going to solve all our problems.
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Now we've heard this before. I mean, when you've lived under the reign of Caligula and Claudius, they're not known for their morality, their compassion or their sanity.
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Oh yes, more good news from the emperor. And this word going forth from the apostles about the
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Lord Jesus Christ and him being raised from the dead to die no more and him reigning in his kingdom that cannot be shaken,
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I think has a special impact on the people who were about to live through the year of the four emperors and a level of political instability unrivaled since the formation of the end of the
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Roman empire. The good news of a political savior was declared generally to everybody in the area.
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Here he, here he, we have a new emperor and here's all the things he's going to save you from. This is why you should be loyal.
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But Paul and Barnabas declare the glad tidings of the risen Lord Jesus Christ to those right there in front of them.
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They say, we declare these glad tidings to you, to you.
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Not just in general, we're going to get face to face, eyeball to eyeball and say, here's some news that you need to deal with.
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Barnabas was a Levite from the island of Cyprus. Paul was a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel from Tarsus.
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But when they came into this synagogue, they laid aside those credentialed papers and they took up the good news of Jesus Christ and declared it to these folks who had been waiting, waiting, waiting for promises to be kept.
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Their fathers told them, their fathers' fathers told them. For generations, they had been waiting for promises to be kept.
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For centuries, they've been waiting for promises to be kept. For millennia, they've been waiting for promises to be kept.
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And Paul and Barnabas show up and they say, we are here to declare to you the glad tidings of the resurrection of Jesus.
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These glad tidings are nothing less than the fulfillment of the promise that you've been waiting for to be fulfilled.
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These glad tidings have been long anticipated and declared by the prophets and by angels.
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The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 52, verse seven says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your
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God reigns. The angel came to Zacharias in Luke 119 and said,
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I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and to bring you these glad tidings.
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And your son is the forerunner of the Messiah. These are the same glad tidings that were taught by Christ and that he commissioned his apostles to preach in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the other most parts of the earth.
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In Luke 8, one, we read that Christ went through every city and village preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the 12 were with him.
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And they learned that and then they were commissioned to preach that. And Romans 10, 13 through 15 says, for whoever calls upon the name of the
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Lord shall be saved. What Peter preached on Pentecost, Paul brings up here the same quote from Joel.
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How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
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How shall they hear without a preacher? And how should they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.
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You wanna know how the early church spread under the grace of God, the means that God used time and again to spread the gospel from city to city, family to family, and how the gospel spread like it did.
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He used people just like you. We read of the apostles as they were used by the risen
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Lord Jesus Christ for the foundation and the establishment of the church. But if you'll pay close attention as you read through the
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New Testament, you're gonna find all sorts of names listed there that we have no amazing details about. Just a name.
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And you may say, well, I'm just a name. God uses us. He does the impossible through the unlikely.
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He always has. One of the earliest ways in which the gospel spread in the ancient
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Roman Empire, women would go out to the same area in the river to wash clothes.
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And as they washed their clothes together in the river, one would say to the other, glad tidings, glad tidings.
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And I wanna hear more about that. And then they would host a table and they would eat together and they would rejoice in fellowship together.
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And men would go out and they would labor and they would be alongside each other in the guild work or in the fields.
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And they would declare to one another, glad tidings, glad tidings of the risen Lord Jesus.
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And this all part of the river that flows from the throne as the Holy Spirit empowers the gospel message through the likes of us for every generation to know the good news of Jesus Christ.
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The good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, the gospel. Now that was an overused word back in Paul's day.
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It had political connotations to it. It was all about how the true savior, the true fixer of everything, the emperor.
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It's gonna make everything better in society. Crafted a message that he believed would gain the affection and the loyalty of his subjects so that he may gather to himself more and more power.
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Gospel is a word I think also used too broadly in our day, too broadly in our day.
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Over and over again, we're told that this problem or this priority or this need is a gospel issue.
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Gospel issue. This is said over and over again. Many neo -evangelicals engage in breathless hyperbole, making every social issue a gospel issue till all they issue is a social gospel.
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But the gospel is good news of Jesus Christ's person and work, his significance, his salvation that he brings.
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Jesus Christ is the good of the good news and he's the news of the good news. And any other priority or problem in the world today, whether real or only merely perceived, is something to be seen in light of Christ but that is not to be considered the gospel.
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Not to be considered even a gospel issue. There's a whole city, there's a whole country, there's a whole planet full of implications and applications given that Jesus Christ is risen and reigning and coming again.
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Indeed, there are applications everywhere. There is nothing that escapes his light, nothing that escapes the gravitational pull of the glory of Jesus Christ.
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But we ought not take the applications of the gospel and shove it back into the understanding of the gospel, the interpretation of the gospel.
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Otherwise, we will mistake the crops for the field. We will mistake the fork and knife for the steak.
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And we may even mistake the bride for the groom. Well, what else do we see?
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Not just the glad tidings declared, but that these pertain to the promise of the resurrection.
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Paul makes it very clear that these glad tidings are not the promise of an emperor, they are the promise that was made to the fathers.
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He says that promise, that promise. Now he's about to quote four different scripture passages from the
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Psalms and Isaiah and Habakkuk, so obviously he doesn't mean that this promise was only spoken one time.
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It's not singular in its instance, it's singular in its intent.
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There's that promise of a risen and reigning Messiah, and that promise was made to the fathers, to the patriarchs, and was made again and again and again.
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The promise is so emphasized as that promise because it was the one that was passed down from generation to generation.
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Every covenant God made with the fathers spun around that promise.
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The promise of the seed who would bring Shalom as the servant who would reign as the son, it was all about Christ.
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As the image of God, as the last Adam, he would reign as the one who had defeated death in the grave, holding those keys in his hand.
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And last week we heard from 1 Corinthians 15 that this resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that is a necessary part of the gospel, that this was according to the
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Scriptures, according to the Scriptures. There are other passages in the
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Old Testament other than those that Paul's about to list that declare the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
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Hosea, who through God, through him declared, "'Out of Egypt I have called my son,' he says.
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He also again writes of Israel, "'After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up that we may live in his sight.'"
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So did God call Israel his son? Yes, he did. He did so in Exodus and Hosea. Did he bring
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Israel up out of Egypt? Yes, he did. Did God put to death Israel for their transgressions by exile, destroying their temple, and then bring them back to life again to the land where they rebuilt the temple?
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Yes, he did. Wasn't this pattern awfully similar to unfaithful Jonah who didn't want to obey
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God but ended up in the big fish for three days and three nights and then he was spit up on dry land to do the will of God, to declare the light of God's truth to the nations?
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Yes, that's true. And in all of this, are we not to recall in the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the apostles that Jonah was the sign of the resurrected
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Messiah? The resurrected Messiah who was the rebuilt temple destroyed this temple and in three days
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I will raise it up? Isn't this the same one who died for the transgression of his people?
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Do you see that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is built into the very fabric of the history of Israel? As Jesus tells it.
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The suffering David in Psalm 22 can't possibly only write of himself, but declares his suffering as one crucified but also raised, pierced, pierced by nails.
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His garments divided through those who cast lots. And yet also, even on all these scenes of death, after it he says,
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I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will praise you. Even after all these scenes of death.
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Is this not the true son of David, our risen Lord Jesus Christ? He declares God to us and gathers us to himself, the assembly of the firstborn.
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And in Isaiah 53, after hearing that the suffering servant bears our transgressions and dies in our place and for our sake, yet we read, he shall see his seed.
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He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied.
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The suffering servant is raised from the dead to look upon the riches that his suffering has won and he is satisfied.
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So throughout the Old Testament, we are privy again and again to that promise, which is nothing less than the glad tidings spoken in hope out of the shadows.
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And some of the passages look like and they sound like Isaac. Some of the passages look like and they sound like Israel.
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Some of the passages look like and sound like David or Solomon. But do you know who looks like and sounds like Isaac and Israel and David and Solomon all together?
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His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus Christ, who's greater than them all. And he is the risen
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Lord. What a message we have. Glad tidings concerning that promise.
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But concerning messengers and their message, Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, wanted to run.
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It was his job, after all, not just to run, but to bring news, vital news to those who needed to hear to do so for the king.
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But Joab that day had fresh blood on his hands, the blood of the king's son,
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Absalom, a rebellious son who had launched the country into civil war, concerning whom
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David had said, let no harm fall to my son. Ahimaaz wanted to run and tell the news to the king, but Joab judged the news to be too harsh, too weighty, too sad.
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I mean, what would happen if Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, were to give that message to the king?
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He may forever be tainted with that news and the king would always only think of him as the one who came to tell him that his beloved rebellious son was dead.
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So Joab refused Ahimaaz and sent a foreigner instead. He sent the
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Cushite. Why? Because even 3 ,000 years ago, everybody knew Ethiopians run farther and faster than anybody else.
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They're just better at it. Need a swift messenger? Send the Cushite. Need an expendable man who might be banished or even executed, depending on the mood of the king when he hears devastating news?
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Send the Cushite. He's no son of Zadok. He's not even a son of Israel. So Joab sent the
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Cushite and he ran. Ahimaaz did not give up, however. He still wanted to run. He still wanted to run and give the king this message.
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Joab questioned him, why do you want to do this? You have no good news that will bring you a reward.
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And he said, whatever happens, I want to go. Joab said, go.
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We see the man's determination and his cleverness as he found a route to outpace the Cushite.
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David the king was keeping watch. He entered a lookout and they saw two men coming, each one by themselves. And David thought that the fact that they ran by themselves meant good news.
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And when they saw the man in the lead was Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, David said this, he says, that's a good man.
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He brings good news. And Ahimaaz got there first and he greeted the king. He bowed low and he knew the main reason that Joab had not wanted him to come was because David's concern for the wellbeing of his son
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Absalom. David was more concerned about his son than he was about the battle. And despite Joab's characterization of the situation, it really was good news that Absalom had been defeated and the rebel army had been routed.
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And Joab was also correct. He knew that the news of Absalom's death would break
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David's heart and crush his spirit. Ahimaaz wanted to run.
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He wanted to deliver the news. And this is what he said to David, "'Blessed be the
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Lord, your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my Lord, the king.'" The king said, "'Is the young man
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Absalom safe?' Ahimaaz answered, "'When Joab sent the king's servant and me, your servant,
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I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.'" Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, who was known to the king as a good man, who brings good news,
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Ahimaaz knew exactly what to say to the king that would retain his favor while appearing to be faithful.
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Notice that. He knew exactly what to say to the king that would retain the king's favor, but appear to be faithful.
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When the Kushite came in, he repeated the first part of Ahimaaz's message, pretty much the same.
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But when the king asked about his son, the Kushite answered, "'May the enemies of my
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Lord, the king, and all who rise against you to do harm be like that young man.'"
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And David's heart was broken, and his spirit was crushed. Now, having considered what the preaching includes, we have to clarify how the preaching is to be done.
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Because if you want to run, if we want to run, if we want to bring good news as messengers of the king, let us consider this.
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It is not the cleverest, nor the most determined, or the swiftest, or the one with the most noble name or pedigree that's going to please
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God in heaven. It is the messenger who tells the whole story, who tells the truth, that will not shy away from these glad tidings, even when they break hearts and crush spirits.
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Israel had to know that rebel sons would not prosper, and that victory would only come through the righteous son, and that the victory that came to the true son of David would come at a crushing cost.
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And Jesus says to us, if we want to follow him, we take up our crosses, be crucified with him, that we may be raised with him.
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The glad tidings of the resurrection are the dawn of his kingdom, which spells the end of rebel night.
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That is the message that we bring. And so that how the preaching is done, it should be done in the particular fashion that is pleasing to God, pleasing to God, not unto men, but unto
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God. First of all, consider the source, the source from which we declare the resurrection.
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Paul says that they come from the promise. So I'm preaching to you good news, that's nothing more or nothing less than that promise that God made to the fathers.
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The promise to the fathers that was preserved by the father in words concerning the word, words written down by holy men, born along by the
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Holy Spirit. Paul does not preach from his feelings, his experiences, his culture, his audience, his dreams, or his philosophy.
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He preaches the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the scriptures, and so should we. I mean, it's kind of obvious to say, but we don't have anything better than the word of God to declare the word of God.
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But it has to be said. The holy scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
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All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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So the scriptures are clear, powerful, perfect, sufficient. And because they're from God, they are authoritative.
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Paul's not standing there on the basis of his experience or his good looks or his ability in rhetoric. He's standing there before his audience on the authority of God himself, bringing the word of God to bear upon their lives.
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And think about it. Paul was saying that promise made to the fathers. Well, he's talking about something that was written down hundreds of years ago.
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It was written down 500 years ago. It was written down 800 years ago. It was written down 1 ,000 years ago.
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The things he quotes, how old are they? And yet he says they matter right here, right now in your life.
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The authority of God's word. The glad tidings which declare the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures, come with the authority of God himself.
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Paul's warrant to stand there is the same as ours when we sit with our miserable, lost rebel family members at Thanksgiving.
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And when we stand next to or sit next to our miserable, complaining coworkers throughout the week.
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Right? What business is it of mine? What basis do
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I have to say something into their life? The same warrant Paul had. The authority of God in the scriptures.
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Further consider the hope in which we declare the resurrection because the promise of God to the fathers was
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God's own word. His own assurances were laid upon the security of his own name. So we should have no doubts as to the outcome.
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And just like the old covenant saints lived in assured anticipation of the Messiah's new covenant ministry, so we live in assured anticipation of Christ's ultimate victory and his return to raise the dead.
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What the father has spoken of the son by the spirit is not only perfect and authoritative, but it is sure.
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It is sure. We have this hope. The good news may break hearts and crush spirits, but God thereby raises the dead to life.
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So it's in hope that we bring this good news. Fourthly, consider the means by which we declare the resurrection, which again is very simple, but must be said.
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Paul used words. Paul used words.
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He spoke true words, but he used words. Someone once said, preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.
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That same someone should read the Bible. Preaching the gospel is impossible without the use of words.
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Paul used words. Stephen used words. Peter used words. God incarnate, Jesus Christ used words.
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The triune God has given us words to declare the good news. Preaching the gospel, yes, it depends upon the spirit.
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Preaching the gospel should indeed come from a life transformed by Christ, but it involves clear propositional truths that demand a response.
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Fifthly, consider the manner in which we declare the resurrection. Paul is standing before them, and I wonder how you envision
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Paul and Barnabas, standing there before the people in the synagogue. What kind of expression do you think is on their face?
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What kind of tone do you think that they use? What do you think their posture conveys?
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These are glad tidings. This is good news.
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The glad of the glad tidings is real. The good of the good news is real.
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They're not standing there with dour observations of grim satisfaction about how few will ever be saved, and even if you are, you won't appreciate it as much as I do.
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How we describe these glad tidings and good news matters. Sixthly, consider the fellowship from which we declare the resurrection.
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Paul is not standing there alone. As far as we can tell, Barnabas didn't say much, or if anything.
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He's just standing there. Paul's going a mile a minute, telling them all about the good news.
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Barnabas may not have even been able to get a word in edgewise, especially since Paul's sentences tend to run, but Barnabas was still there.
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And when Paul preached, he didn't say, I have something to say to you. He says, we have something to say to you.
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Do you notice that? He was not standing there alone. He had Barnabas with him, and he was commissioned by the church with his fellow believer.
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And Jesus sent out his disciples two by two. There's wisdom there.
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Let us, in good fellowship, establish the truth of the glad tidings to our neighbors by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
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Lastly, consider the audience to whom we declare the resurrection. Paul and Barnabas have a pretty good idea of who they're talking to.
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Brethren, they say, you know, fellow Jews, and those who fear God, God -fearers, those of you who have been brought into the synagogue, we declare to you the glad tidings.
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Bible tracts are fine, and evangelism scripts are helpful and can teach, but what about that person you've been praying for?
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What about the person you've been praying for? What about the person who's standing right there in front of you?
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Declare the glad tidings to that person. Colossians 4, verses five and six,
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Paul says, walk in wisdom toward those who are outside. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside. Redeeming the time, make the most of your time with them.
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Let your speech always be with grace. That isn't tell them what they want to hear, like Ahimaz.
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No, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how to answer each one because you've got to make the message clear.
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It's not going to be the same time every time you run. It's not going to be the same way every time you run. Every time you run, it's different.
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Every time you declare the glad tidings of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to somebody else or to the same person, but a different time, it's different.
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Consider them well. And in this way, by the power of the
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Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, the message of salvation, these glad tidings of the resurrection of Jesus flow as a river from the very throne of heaven through us to all who have ears to hear.
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And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him who hears say, come.
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And let him who thirsts, come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
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Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning and we give you the praise, we give you the glory.
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We thank you that you don't simply commission experts, but each one of your children, by your
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Spirit, call upon you, Abba, Father, and each one of us, by your Spirit, declare the good news of Jesus.
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We thank you for this gift and for this calling, and I pray that you would help us to have confidence in you as we engage in it.