Jews and Jesus.

Steve Brown:
Jews and Jesus. Let’s talk about it, on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
That was Steve Brown. He doesn’t want to be your guru and he’s not trying to be your mother. He just opens the Bible and gives you the simple truth that if you free. Steve’s a lifelong broadcaster, author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you have your Bible open it to the 13th chapter of Acts. I’m kind of picking up some things that we didn’t pick up when we spent so much time talking about John Mark leaving the ministry. And there’s some really good stuff in this chapter. And I’m your tour director and I’m pointing out some of those things. Yesterday, I brought up and pointed out to you that Paul, before he goes any other place, goes to the synagogue. That’s where the gospel has been first heard. And we took a little bit of time looking at Romans 1:16 through 17 to find out the reason he did that. Jews are special. Israel was special. And Christians have to be very sensitive. I suggested that before you share Jesus with your Jewish friends, ask for forgiveness, because they know what’s been done in the name of Christ throughout the history of the church. And it’s not very pretty. So, you’ve got to get that issue set aside, or don’t talk about Jesus because they’re going to be mad at you before you start. And, and a part of our calling as you know, is to share with the world, to the Jews first and then to the Greeks and the Gentiles. And I told you yesterday, I was going to tell you a story. I said that one time in a sermon and the sermon, in those days were, they were recorded. And then they were sent out to a lot of people around the country. And I got a letter from a lady and she said, Steve, I blew it. In the letter, she said, I was on an airplane and I was sitting next to this lady and she, in our conversation, she mentioned she was Jewish. And then I remembered what you said in that sermon. And I decided, I’ve got to ask her forgiveness. And I said to this lady sitting next to me, I said, could I say something? And the lady said, of course. And she said, I’ve got to say something to you. I am so sorry. And then as I got that far, and I started crying and then I started sobbing. And I blew it. I never got to the Jesus part. And she said before we finished this sweet Jewish lady was patting me on the back and saying, dear, it’s going to be all right. It’s going to be okay. So, I just wanted you to know, I blew it. I never got out what you said I ought to do. And I thought that is so wonderful. I like it. But the rest of the story is even better. I got another letter, two days later, from the same lady. I didn’t know her, still don’t know who she is. And she said, I didn’t blow it, I thought I did. This Jewish lady, and we exchanged phone numbers called me yesterday and she said, I’d like to visit your church sometime. Would you meet me there and kind of show me around? Cause I’ve never been in the church before. And she said, Steve, I really believe something’s going to happen there, that’s amazing. And I thought you ought to know. What I was saying is what I talked to you yesterday. And I didn’t say it, God said it, Jews are special. I don’t know all the implications of that. I really don’t, but I do know that Jews are special and God’s not finished with them. And so, when Paul in Romans 1:16 through 17 said I’m not ashamed of the gospel and that he went to the Jew first and then to the Greeks in the 13th chapter of the book of Acts, that’s exactly what he does. Paul doesn’t go to the temple. He doesn’t go to the town square. He doesn’t go out and into the woods and call people to join him, he goes to the synagogue of God’s people. And this is what he says.

“Men of Israel and you that fear God, listen to me. The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he bore with them in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. For about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of a loom. He testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us has been born, has been sent the message of this salvation. 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 these by condemning him. Though they could charge him with nothing deserving death, yet they asked Pilate to have him killed. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witness is to the people. And we bring you the good news that God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘Thou art God, today I have begotten thee.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to the eruption, he spoke this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ therefore he says also in another place, ‘Thou will not let the Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep and he was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up saw no corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man’s forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone that believes is freed from everything for which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest there come upon you what is said of the Prophets. ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder and perish; for I do a deed in your days, a deed you will never believe if one declares it to you.'”

Oh my. And so, the apostle Paul, and there’s more to the sermon and we’re going to look a little bit more, tomorrow at this sermon that he preaches. And the results of the sermon. But the thing that I want you to see, is the way the apostle Paul sets up history. What he’s saying in this sermon is that God doesn’t do anything in a vacuum. He prepares. And sometimes he prepares for a very long time, some 1500, 2000 years before the birth of Christ, God chose a people, nobodies in the middle of the desert, wanderers, people who kept their camels in their tents and said, I will be your God and you will be my people. And then some seven, 800 years later, there was another people, the Greeks and the Romans, a stream of human history and those two streams ran in parallel with one another until the first century. And Jesus of Nazareth was born. Listen to me. If he had been born 60 years before, you never would have heard the name of Jesus. If he had been born 60 years later, you never would have heard the name of Jesus. In that time, there were the Roman roads, the Roman coinage, the Roman Latin language, universal. And the message of Christ would then spread into all the world. That wasn’t an accident. History is important. And your history is important. Our history is important, because God has preparing out of his love for us. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks Steve. That was Steve Brown, teaching us from Paul’s remarkable sermon found in Acts 13. More good stuff to discover here tomorrow. Please be sure to join us then. It wouldn’t be the same without you. So, I have a bunch of kids, four to be exact, and they love to pretend, the youngest will often pretend he’s a ninja or Boba Fett or Batman. Sometimes, all three at once. Of course, once we grow up with bills and responsibilities and whatnot, we don’t do much pretending. Except maybe when we pretend like we have it all together. So, you knew I was going to twist it on you. Steve spoke about this in a sermon call When Believing is Hard and Pretending Doesn’t Work. It’s powerful. It’s relevant. It is really going to help you. So, get your copy on CD for free right now by calling 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also request that CD by e-mailing [email protected]. If you’re mailing us send request to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

If you’re in Canada, the address is

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

Just ask for the free CD called When Believing is Hard and Pretending Doesn’t Work. And finally, if you’re able, would you partner in the work of Key Life through your giving. You could charge a gift on your credit card. Or include a gift in your envelope. Or join the growing number of folks who simply pick up their phone and text Key Life to 28950 and then followed the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.