- By comparing the actual gospel messages recorded in the book of Acts, we can gain insight into how we can best communicate the message of salvation.
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1. Seven Gospel messages from Paul in Acts
- Luke has recorded actual speech in five of Peter’s Gospel sermons,
and seven of Paul, plus some sort of description in many others. - We are going to concentrate on Paul, since Peter’s main focus was speaking to Jews
- But Paul’s first message was to Jews in a Synagogue at Antioch Pisidia (Acts 13:16–41)and we are going to compare it with Peter
- It has been pointed out how Luke often presents pairs of events in order to provide two witnesses, and these seem to be examples of such a scheme.
- In some cases as well as a strong similarity between the pairs, there is a different outcome.For example, the same message leads Gentiles at Caesarea to salvation and Jews at Antioch to rejection.
- It seems that Luke has taken care to illustrate the way in which the Apostle served as a witness to the name of Christ, in each of these contexts.
2. Preaching in the Synagogue in Antioch
1. Synagogue Addresses
- Luke records 11 occasions when Paul preached in a synagogue
- Only time the message itself is recorded is at Antioch in Pisidia.
The simplest explanation for this is that Paul’s method of discourse in the synagogue usually followed the same pattern, so Luke only needed to give us one address in detail.
This is supported by Luke’s own words in Acts 17:4 where he records that “Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”
Paul followed a predictable pattern—when he arrived at a town he first presented his message in the Synagogue.
In Acts 19:8, Luke reports that Paul was “reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.”
This phrase is a shorthand that assumes that the reader already knows what ‘the things’ are.
For these reasons, it is probable that Luke has chosen the message given at Antioch to be a good representative of Paul’s usual style of synagogue evangelism.
The brief descriptions given on other occasions support this assumption. He preached “from the Scriptures”, the death and resurrection of Christ, and that “Jesus is the Christ”.
Paul at Antioch in Pisidia
We’ll compare the sermon of Paul in Antioch to the message given by Peter to the household of Cornelius and see how remarkably similar they are!
Paul Preaching in a Synagogue
A. Sermon Introduction
Acts 10:34–43 Peter at Caesarea | Acts 13:16–41 Paul at Antioch in Pisidia |
|---|---|
Invited to speak by devout Gentiles | Invited to speak by Jews |
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 “But in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. | 16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: (goes into historical preamble) |
36 “The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ; He is Lord of all;… | 23 “From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Saviour; Jesus; |
37 “that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: | 24 “after John had first preached, before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.… |
[36a “The word which God sent to the children of Israel] | 26 “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham… to you the word of this salvation has been sent. |
B. “they Crucified Jesus”
Peter | Paul |
|---|---|
39 “And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. | 27 “For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 “And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. 29 “Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. |
C. “but God raised him up again”
Peter | Paul |
|---|---|
40 “Him God raised up on the third day, and showed him openly, 41 “not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. | 30 “But God raised him from the dead. 31 “He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. |
D. “and exalted him to the throne”
Peter | Paul |
|---|---|
42 “And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify | 32 “And we declare to you glad tidings; that promise which was made to the fathers. |
that it is he who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. | 33 “God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that he has raised up Jesus. |
43 “To him all the prophets witness that, | As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my Son, Today I have begotten you.’ 34 “And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption… 36 “For David… was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; 37 but he whom God raised up saw no corruption. |
E. “so repent so that your sins will be forgiven.”
Peter | Paul |
|---|---|
43b through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins.” | 38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39 “and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. |
Gentiles believed | Jews rejected (but Gentiles believed) |
ESV
A. Sermon Introduction
The introduction has four parts.
The historical preamble is appropriate to the audience, very different between the two messages.
Jews: Paul surveys their history from the Exodus, through to the raising up of David, and God’s promise to him of a seed.
B. “they Crucified Jesus”
Both accounts specify precisely that it was the Jerusalem Jews who committed the crime, and that Jesus was hung on a tree, as one accursed by God. Peter was a witness to these events, but Paul was not. Instead, Paul substitutes the witness of the Prophets whose words were fulfilled.
C. “but God raised him up again”
Parallel is very close: Both state that it was God who raised Jesus up; the event was witnessed.
D. “and exalted him to the throne”
It is this message of the resurrected Christ, that is to be declared.
Both speakers emphasize that it is God who has fulfilled this.
Paul is much more detailed in his explanation—audience would have known the Scriptures.
E. “so repent so that your sins will be forgiven.”
Both Peter and Paul close with an appeal to believe so that their sins will be forgiven.
Paul tells the Jews that the law of Moses was not ultimately able to justify, but pointed forward to Jesus Christ! Now he has come, the law has ceased from its function.
Such a conclusion must have been startling to the Jews! especially considering that the man whom Paul proclaims as replacing the law, died as an outcast from the covenant.
Paul’s synagogue dialogue
Many of the references to Paul’s preaching in the synagogue indicate that he followed a method of dialogue or discussion. In doing this he was following the synagogue model of debate.
Romans is an example, patterned in the format of questions and answers.
Acts 17:2—“Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures”, also Acts 18:4 and 18:19.
He continued using the same style outside the synagogue
3. Preaching to Pagan Gentiles
Preaching to Pagan Gentiles
Audience and Context
Acts 14:8–20 Lystra |
|---|
8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. 11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. |
Acts 17:16–34 Athens |
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. |
Description of God
Lystra | Athens |
|---|---|
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, | 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To The Unknown God. |
15b and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, | 23b Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you: |
15c who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, | 24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 “Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. |
Evidence for God
Lystra | Athens |
|---|---|
17 “Nevertheless he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” | 26 “And he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us; 28 “for in him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29 “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. |
Repent!
Lystra | Athens |
|---|---|
[16 “who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. ] | 30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, |
[turn from these useless things to the living God v.15] | but now commands all men everywhere to repent, |
| 31 “because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.” |
Response
Lystra | Athens |
|---|---|
18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. 19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. | 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. |
ESV
Audience and Context
Both describe excessive idolatry to the point of being ridiculous, and which shocked Paul.
Description of God
Both the Lystrans and the Athenians interpreted Paul’s religion in the framework of their own.
One of Paul’s main concerns is to distinguish himself radically from this conception, and to show that the God he proclaims is utterly outside their own framework.
In both cases it was the idolatry that provided a point of contact for Paul.
- 15b and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God,
Paul points out the rational failings in their systems (they are ordinary men of flesh and blood)
• The Athenians’ own system exposes their ignorance.
• Although Paul uses persuasive reasoning in both cases, the style is one of proclamation.
• He announces the true God and demands that they turn to him.
- who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them
The arguments here are almost identical.
• Creation itself bears witness to a God who is, by definition, greater than his creation.
Evidence for God
• The first witness provided by Paul is the creative work of God
• the second is his providential care. In 14:17 Paul uses the word witness, and in 17:27 tells them that God’s providence is intended to direct them to himself.
• In Athens he refers to their preappointed times “—by which, following the analogy of the Lystran speech in Ch. 14:17, we are probably to understand the seasons of the year by whose sequence annual provision is made for supplying men with food.”
Paul’s words are chosen to directly contradict the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers.
• Stoics believed in cosmic determination, Paul says a personal God controls all events.
• The Stoics taught that deity was impersonal and distant, but Paul says that “he is not far from each one of us” (17:27).
• The Epicureans said that the soul perishes with the body, and the general Greek view of history was of an endlessly repeating cycle, but Paul announces that “he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness” (17:31).
Paul’s use of quotations from pagan philosophers has caused some problems. These quotations, from Epimenides and Aratus, when seen in their original pagan contexts, do not teach the one true God. However, by quoting from them, Paul is not validating their belief systems but demonstrating that their paganism was self contradictory. They claimed to be the offspring of God, and yet worshipped gods of stone and metal, inferior even to themselves.
Repent!
“His ‘overlooking’ their errors shows not indifference but patience”. If before they had some excuse for their errors, now they had none.
- turn from these useless things
The call to repentance is present in both sermons.
Response
It seems that neither message received an overwhelming response, but there is no hint given by Luke that Paul regretted the sermons.
• The fact that Luke gives us this pair of very similar addresses indicates that this was a representative message.