Acts “The Mission of Paul in Cyprus, Galatia, and Pamphylia” - Part 9 Acts 13:25 – 15:33
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Acts “The Mission of Paul in Cyprus, Galatia, and Pamphylia” - Part 9 Acts 13:25 – 15:33 Good morning church. We are currently working our way through the book of Acts. We’ve been examining Paul’s sermon to the Galatians in chapter 13. Paul preached the gospel to people in the Galatian town of Pisidian Antioch. In verses 16-22 Paul reminded his listeners of God’s promise to bring the Messiah through the line of Abraham and King David. In verse 23 He told them that God fulfilled His promise by bringing Jesus who had been descended from Abraham and David. In verse 24 Paul told them that John the Baptist had come to prepare the people for Jesus’ arrival. Last Sunday we spent a good 50 minutes or so talking about how John prepared the way. John preached that the kingdom was coming along with its King and he preached repentance and then he baptized the repentant in the Jordan. This morning we will pick up at verse 25 and continue to look at what Paul said about John the Baptist. Take your Bibles and turn to Acts 13:25. Pray. Verse 25 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.’ Commentary Towards the end of John’s ministry scribes and Pharisees came to question him. Thinking that he might be the Messiah they asked John who he was. John told them that he was not the Messiah and that he was so much lower than the One to come that he wasn’t even worthy to perform the lowest act of service for Him which was to untie His sandals. Look at what else John the Baptist said in John 3:25-30 (turn there). 25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” An argument developed between a Jewish inquisitor and the disciples of John the Baptist. There was confusion over the respective merits of Jesus and John. If both were baptizing, whose baptism was valid? By popular acclaim Jesus’ influence was growing and John’s was waning. John’s interrogators felt that their friend and teacher had been eclipsed by Jesus’ sudden popularity, and they wanted an explanation and so they came to him. Look at how John responded look at what he said to them. 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. The first thing John does is he highlights God’s sovereignty over the granting of ministry opportunities. It’s as if John is saying, “The reason why Jesus has a ministry, a growing ministry, and people to baptize, is because God granted it.” We can look at it in the form of a Q/A. Question Why is Jesus baptizing more people than you? Answer God granted it. Look at what John said next. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ He said, “You were there when I said I am not the Messiah and that I had been sent before him. You were there when I said that I was the one who came crying in the wilderness and to pave the way making His paths straight.” Look at 29. 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The Scriptures often refer to Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as His bride. That is what John is doing here. John is saying, “Jesus is the bridegroom and the bride belongs to Him and God is sending His bride to Him.” This is why people are gathering to Him. He continues, The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. John says, “The friend of the bridegroom”. Who stands to the left of the groom during a wedding ceremony? Who sits to the left of the groom at the head table? The best man! John says, “I’m his best man”. He says “as the best man I stand and listen to bridegroom speak and give His new covenant nuptials.” And he says, “I rejoice greatly at the sound of His voice.” John was given to Elizabeth and Zechariah and to the world for the purpose of preparing the people for the coming of the Lord and for identifying Him when He came. John was about 30 years old when Jesus emerged as the Messiah. John had spent his childhood years, his teenage years, and his young adult years waiting with eager anticipation for the incredible moment when Jesus would come. 30 years. Do you think that he was excited when heaven opened up to him in a new way and the Father brought the Son before his very eyes and then he heard the Son speak? John said, “I rejoice greatly at the sound of His voice.” All those years of growing up and praying and preparing and then preaching and baptizing and then boom, there He stood up to His waste in the River Jordan, the Son of God, the Messiah. John, without a doubt, knew who Jesus was because a voice boomed from the sky saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And John watched the Holy Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and come to rest upon Jesus. He then says, “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete”. John’s greatest joy was to see the people leave his care and leadership and then go and gather before the groom who is Jesus Christ. John’s joy became complete when He heard that Jesus’ ministry was surpassing his. Why, because it was supposed to. Jesus is the Groom and the bride belongs to Him. Look at verse 30. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. John tells his interrogators, “It’s gotta be this way. Jesus must increase. He must become the center of attention. He must surpass me in every way. He must be raised up and I must be brought low. He must increase, but I must decrease.” I’ll end with this. There is an incredible principal truth here in the text. It is simple and yet profound. It is as follows. Joy comes to us when we decrease and the Lord increases. When John learned that the Lord was increasing and that he was decreasing his joy became complete. The world teaches us the opposite. It says that when we increase so will our joy and happiness and so on. But that is a lie. If it were true than why are there so many big wigs without joy? The world tells us to increase and to make a name for ourselves. It tells us to shoot for the stars and to climb to the top. It tells us to work hard to make a name for ourselves. It tells us that unless you do so you will become no body. You know what? I’m OK with being a nobody in this world. Let me tell you why. There is no future in it. This world is going to pass away. What matters to you and I is Christ. He must increase, but we must decrease. Our mission is to raise His banner high until He returns. He must increase, but we must decrease. If your joy seems fleeting maybe the reason why is because you’ve been trying to increase yourself rather than the Lord. You will never find and secure joy through increasing yourself and pursuing your own glory. Don’t believe the world, don’t believe your flesh, don’t believe the devil and the demons, don’t believe the prosperity preachers! Believe the testimony of John the Baptist and the very Word of God which makes it clear that joy comes to us when we decrease and the Lord increases. Joy comes to us when we make less of ourselves and more of Jesus. Let’s look at what Paul said in verses 26-28. Verse 26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 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. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. Commentary Here we see Paul again address both groups in the room, Jews and half-Jews, and then he says in effect, “John the Baptist was sent to us to proclaim the message of salvation.” Paul then anticipated and answered two questions that might have arisen in the minds of his hearers, a technique he employed frequently in his writings. We see him use this tactic throughout the book of Romans and a couple of times in 1 Corinthians and Galatians. The first question was one the Jewish people have wrestled with from apostolic times to now: If Jesus is Messiah, why did the Jewish leaders fail to recognize Him as such? Paul gives the reason.