What is the focus of Paul's sermon in Pisidian Antioch?

Acts 13 gives us details about Paul’s preaching in Pisidian Antioch and the people’s response. Presumably this sermon is similar to the one he gave in Cyprus and on all his subsequent journeys. And most certainly there would have been more content compared to what we have in the Bible which is only a summary of what was said. Even so, it is very helpful summary because it gives us a clear articulation of the gospel message: the good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ to save his people from their sins.

Focusing on the sermon itself, the first section summarises Old Testament history as the search for the Messiah. The search for a man who will do the will of God so as to be Israel’s Saviour. Then we have the testimony that Jesus was this man and that he was raised from the dead to confirm his status as God’s chosen King. He is the long-awaited Son who uniquely represents the Father, resurrected from the grave because he was perfectly obedient to all of God’s commands. The promise of an eternal kingdom, the holy and sure blessings of David: that is a promise which he can claim. Death will not touch him again; he is the Holy One who will not see decay. Finally, as a result of his work, it is possible to be freed from the law, to be justified in the sight of God. The death which the law demands of sinners is a death which he has paid. The righteousness which the law demands for life in God’s presence is a righteousness which he has provided. And wonderfully, everyone who believes gets to share in these blessings, everyone who believes can be sure of God’s favour.

Christianity is not a message about a new experience that you can have with God. It is not a message about a particular lifestyle, a path to enlightenment or a mode of behaviour. Certainly, those who belong to God will have experiences and we will seek to live in keeping with his law, but these are all consequences of what God has done for us. They are not the message which we promote week by week. No, the message we want to promote, the message which the true church promotes is the message which Paul shared there in Antioch and all the other places he visited. Good news about what Jesus has done so that we can enjoy God’s favour. Good news about Jesus who kept God’s law in our place, justification through faith. If that is not the message which you are hearing week by week when you come for worship, then you are not in a true church and you are not in a place where the power of God is working to save all who believe.

The summary of Paul’s sermon then is very helpful to us. It gives us a clear articulation of the gospel; it provides us with something of an objective standard by which we can measure the preaching and teaching that we receive.

For the people who heard this sermon, the Jews in Antioch, Paul also has a particular emphasis. To put it differently, he has structured his sermon in a particular way so as to address a recurring problem that he has found in his ministry. The problem of unbelief. Four times he explains what God has done and how his people responded.

To begin with, God chose a people and he caused them to prosper. He rescued them from the land of Egypt; he led them out into freedom. The events of the Exodus are well known to us. And do you remember, how did the Israelites respond? What did they do when Moses was speaking to God; how did they go about life in the desert? They grumbled and complained; they made a golden calf. God had to put up with them.

Then again God acts and does good for his people. He overthrows the Canaanites; he brings them into a land with houses that have already been built and vineyards that have already been planted. He gives the judges for guidance. What do they do in response? They ask for a king. They reject the King of kings and choose to have one like the nations around them. A king they can see, a king with a standing army. They want to walk by sight and not by faith.

And when their king turns out to be a villain, the Lord graciously provides a new king, David. A king who seeks to obey him, a king from whom the Saviour would come. Sadly, when the Saviour arrived on the scene, when Christ came to his people, the response was once again rejection. A failure to recognise him despite the preparation work of John the Baptist. Condemnation, crucifixion, a refusal to listen.

This is the response which has been seen three times now in Israel’s history. A response which has been seen also in Damascus and Jerusalem, all the places where Paul has preached thus far. And therefore, Paul ends his sermon with the plea that his audience must not make that same response once again. Beware lest what is said in the prophets comes about. Do not reject the good news of God’s salvation.