Actsc13:26

Acts 13: 26 says, Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.  Paul made the message personal for those who were listening.  To the children of Abraham, and those that fear the Lord, salvation was sent.  We must ultimately let everyone we witness to know that Christ died to bring salvation to them.  It has to become personal and not just an abstract idea.  Verse twenty-seven adds, For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. Then, Paul told them that since they didn't even recognize what was read to them each Sabbath, they demanded the death of Jesus, even though they found no fault with Him.  Attending religious services does not bring salvation, only Christ does.  Neither does attending religious services and hearing God's word bring salvation.  A lot of sinners are hiding out in the church every week.  Only the belief in Christ as one's personal Savior can bring salvation.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.  Having found no guilt in Him, Jesus was crucified, and the religious leaders were just as responsible for His death as were the secular leaders. When those who are supposed to be representing God work against Him and in harmony with the world, then they need a word as Paul delivered to the synagogue leaders that day.  Paul knew what the religious leaders believed about Jesus, because he had believed the same thing until his personal encounter with God on the road to Damascus.  People will never change their belief about Christ until they encounter Him personally.  Verse twenty-nine says, And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.   Jesus was placed in a tomb.  It was a borrowed one, because Jesus was not going to need it very long.  Verse thirty adds, But God raised him from the dead:  Jesus did not stay in the grave, as God raised Him form the dead, as He had promised to their forefathers.  As Christians, it really doesn’t matter where we are buried from spiritual point of view, because we are not going to remain there forever.  Like Jesus Christ Himself, one day we will rise again.  This is the good news that we have to share with the world today.  Verse thirty-one continues, And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.  The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was witnessed by many people.  We can either believe the truth of this or not, but by faith we should never doubt it.  Verse thirty-two states, And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,  Paul said he had good news for them about the promise made to their fathers.  Even in the period when the Jewish people were under the Law of God, the promise to them was that a Messiah was coming to save them.  This has always been God’s plan of salvation, and it always will be.  Verse thirty-three adds, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.  Paul said that as the second Psalm said, Jesus was the only begotten Son of God.  He was therefore the only One qualified to redeem mankind and He always will be.  Verse thirty-four continues, And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.  Paul said that since Jesus defeated death, never suffering the corruption of death, that God was going to give them the mercies of David, whose descendant, Jesus Christ, was the fulfillment of God’s promise to him that he would make him a great nation.  We are a part of that promise as Christians.  Verse thirty-five states, Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  More than one Psalm pointed out that the coming Messiah would suffer no corruption, and this could not apply to David as the next verse points out.  Verse thirty-six continues, For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:  David died, and like all other people, his body was corrupted.  Being a descendant of David was a point of pride for the Jewish people, but it did not bring salvation.  David could not save them.  Verse thirty-seven concludes, But he whom God raised again saw no corruption.  Paul said the scripture said neither did He see corruption.  Jesus is the only One Who fulfilled that promise.   

The Israelites chose Saul as their king.  Saul ruled for forty years, but became more concerned with Saul than he was with God, so God chose David as the new king while Saul was still alive.  God called David a man after His own heart who would obey His will.  They needed a leader who was willing to follow God.  We need the same thing today.  From David's descendants God raised up a savior as He had promised.  Now, Paul moved from what the Jewish leaders knew to what they had not acknowledged, that the Savior wasn't just coming, He had already come.  The Savior was Jesus.  John had preached repentance to the people of Israel, and he had quite a following, but he was quick to point out that he was not Messiah they looked for.  The people might have accepted John more easily than Jesus, but John was true to his call.  Our actions should always point people to God and not to us.  As Christians, we cannot separate the world into what we do for God and what we do for self.  Any action we take must be for God's glory, not our own.  In Acts 13: 26, Paul made the message personal for those who were listening.  To the children of Abraham, and those that fear the Lord, salvation was sent.  We must ultimately let everyone we witness to know that Christ died to bring salvation to them.  It has to become personal and not just an abstract idea.  Then, Paul told them that since they didn't even recognize what was read to them each Sabbath, they demanded the death of Jesus, even though they found no fault with Him.  Attending religious services does not bring salvation, only Christ does.  Neither does attending religious services and hearing God's word bring salvation.  A lot of sinners are hiding out in the church every week.  Only the belief in Christ as ones personal Savior can bring salvation.