Good morning. We're going to
be in Acts 17 this morning. If you'd like to turn with me
there in your Bibles to Acts chapter 17. I want us to go to
the Lord in prayer. Tim Murray is having back surgery
this Tuesday, and Fred Newman is having a pacemaker
put in on Friday. So if the Lord reminds you of
that this week, I know they would appreciate you praying for them. So let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we come into thy holy presence, thanking you that we have thy
dear son as our advocate, our sin bearer, as our satisfaction. And Lord, we we know that we
have full acceptance before thy throne of grace because of his
accomplished work of redemption. We thank you for the the truth
of the hymn that we just sang. And Lord, we pray that you would
impress upon our hearts this morning a word of comfort and
hope and peace in Christ. Lord, apart from him, we have
nothing in and of ourselves but sin. And Lord, we're in need
of your mercy, in need of your grace. We pray that you'd be
pleased this day to manifest it in this place. We thank you for your word, and
we know, Lord, that faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes
by the word of God, and so we ask that you would enable us
to speak the truth, and, Lord, that you would give us ears to
hear. We pray for our brother Tim, and, Lord, for Pray that you would be with the
physicians that will operate on him this week and pray for
Fred and ask Lord that you would give them successful surgeries
and that you would recover their health and their strength. We
ask it in Christ's name, amen. You have your Bibles open to
Acts chapter 17. Notice with me, if you will,
at verse 31. Because he hath appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. As you know,
Paul is preaching the gospel to those Stoics and Epicurean
philosophers in Athens, and this was the conclusion of his message.
And he's making three points in his conclusion of three things
I want us to see from this verse. There is a day of judgment coming. The second point is that Christ,
Jesus the Lord, is the standard by which all judgment will be
made. And the third point is that the
resurrection of Christ is the assurance that the believer has
that justice has already been satisfied. There is a day of
judgment coming. Turn with me to 2 Peter 3. 2
Peter 3. And we'll begin reading in verse
10. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you be
in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hastening
unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. we could say that the entire
Old Testament message is, look who's coming. The message of the Gospels, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John would be, look who's here. And the message
of the rest of the New Testament is, look who's coming again. It is the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ that we that we hope for and we long for. We know that that day has been
set by God. You remember when our Lord ascended
into glory from the Mount of Olives in Acts chapter one, the
disciples ask him, Lord, is it time now for you to establish
the kingdom of Israel? And what the Lord say, it's not
for you to know the times nor the seasons, which the father,
which the father has made in his own time. you go back to
Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you'll
be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and unto
the outermost parts of the world. So we long for and we look for
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and that's the conclusion
that the apostle makes in this in this gospel sermon that he's
preaching. And for the believer, it is comforting
one another with these words. Thinking about what the Apostle
Peter had to say to those people in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost
when he preached to them. He said, save yourself from this
crooked generation. And he made it clear that the
Lord was coming again. And so for the unbeliever, I
would say, save yourself from this untold generation, from
this crooked generation. Come to Christ. And to the believer,
I would say, comfort ye one another with these words. What a great
hope we have. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again. Turn with me, if you will, to
1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter five. He is coming for those who are
waiting and watching. for the eastern sky to split,
and the trump of God to sound, and the dead in Christ to be
raised, and those of us which are alive to be caught up together
with them in the air." Here's the conclusion of the message. This world has a day set by God
in which he will bring it all to an end. You have your Bibles
open to 1 Thessalonians. Chapter 5, look with me at verse
1. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for you yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. That means that no man will expect
it. When they say peace and safety,
then the end shall come. And what we learned from this
is that when someone starts predicting the second coming of Christ,
we can be sure that that's not the day that he will come. And our Lord is clear that this
day is set by God. It is held in His secret counsel. It is ordained of Him just as
the day of our death. It is appointed unto each man
once to die. And after that, the judgment
And so he goes on to say in verse three, for when they shall say
peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them
as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye brethren are not in darkness
that the day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the
children of light. And as the children of light
of the day, we are not the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let
us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For
they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken
are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a
helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we shall live
together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together and edify one another as you also do. Comfort one another
with these words. This is a word of great comfort.
Scripture refers to this day as the great and terrible day
of the Lord. It is a great day for those found
in Christ and a terrible day for those who refuse to believe
the gospel. Here's Paul's message. Go back with me to our text.
in Acts chapter 17. In verse 30, he concludes his message
with, And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. We know that What God requires,
God must provide, but here's the message of the gospel. Turn
to Christ, look to Christ, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for
this day of judgment is sure. It is coming because he hath
appointed a day. If God's appointed a day, then
there's no escaping that appointment. Matthew chapter 10, Our Lord
told the disciples when they preach the gospel in a city,
if they were refused to shake the dust from off their feet. And he goes on to say in verse
15, for it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment than for that city. And so our Lord, again
tells us that there is a day of judgment. In Matthew chapter
11 verse 21 and 22, Our Lord said, Woe unto you,
Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works that were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented a long time ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable, it shall be more tolerable for Syre and Tydon
than for these cities where our Lord went and revealed his glory
and they refused to believe. That's exactly what Paul's saying
here. He's concluding his message with
this word of admonition, warning, encouragement to those who know
Christ. that God has appointed today
in which he will judge the world in righteousness. Turn with me
to Amos chapter five. Amos chapter five. Look with me at verse 18. There
are those who say they desire the day of the Lord, they desire
the coming of Christ, but God says they're not ready. They're
not ready. Look at verse 18. Woe unto you
that desire the day of the Lord. To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness
and not light. And if a man did, as if a man
did flee from a lion and a bear met him or went into the house
and leaned his hand upon the wall and a servant bit him, shall
not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light? Even every dark
even very dark, and no brightness in it." Now he's speaking to
those who have tried to make themselves ready for this day
by their promises and by their covenants. This is the same thing
that Isaiah is speaking of in Isaiah 28 when he says, you've
made a covenant with death and with hell you're in agreement.
You've made your promises to God and you're hoping when this
great and terrible day comes that God will regard your promises
for the hope of your salvation. But notice with me in our text,
go back with me to verse 31 of Acts 17. God has appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is the standard by which God will judge all men, either righteous
or unrighteous. John chapter 12, verse 47. If any man hear my words and
believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world,
but to save the world. And so the Lord's telling us
that in his first coming, he did not come as a judge, he came
as a savior. but those who refuse him as Savior
will meet him in the day of judgment as their judge. For he goes on
to say in John chapter 5 verse 22, the Father judgeth no man,
but has committed all judgment unto the Son. And so what our
Lord is telling us here is that when the Lord Jesus Christ comes
back, he came the first time as a suffering servant to save
his people, to lay down his life for his sheep. When he comes
back, we see him riding on a white horse, wielding the sword of
his tongue, which is a sword of fire, and reaping the harvest
and separating the wheat from the chaff. Is that not the message
that's repeated over and over again? Go back with me to the book of
Amos. Let's look at another passage in Amos. Amos chapter seven. At verse seven, God is showing
the prophet picture, an illustration of this day of judgment. And
he says in verse 7, Thus he showed me and behold the Lord stood
upon the wall and made by a plumb line with a plumb line in his
hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos,
what seest thou? And I said, a plumb line. And the Lord said, behold, I
will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel, and
I will not again pass by them anymore." Now the Lord Jesus
Christ is that plumb line. He's the standard by which all
men will be judged. And it will either be true, we
will either be true to that plumb line or we will not. Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter
13. At verse 10, he's speaking of these false
prophets. who say, peace, peace, when there is no peace and give
men hope in something other than the glorious person and accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've gone about to establish
their own righteousness, being ignorant of the righteousness
of God, which is only to be found in Christ. He's the plumb line. He's the standard by which all
shall be judged. Verse 10, because even because
they have seduced my people, saying, Peace, and there was
no peace, and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with
untempered mortar, saying to them which daub it with untempered
mortar, that it shall fall. There shall be an overflowing
shower, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind
shall rend it." This wall that's been built, it's a picture of
Babel when the men gathered together in Babel and they said, let us
build a city and a tower unto heaven. And the scripture says
that they had They had brick for stone and they had slime
for mortar. And that's a picture of man fashioning
his own works of his hands and trying to earn favor with God
by putting together his works with the atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a mixture of works and grace,
which is what all religions are. They're all mixture of works
in grace. And so... The Lord's saying that this wall,
when the judgment shall come, it's just like, again, in Isaiah
chapter 28, when the people said, when the overflowing scourge
comes, it will not overtake us. And what does God say? I'm going
to disannul your covenant. Your covenant will not stand.
There is a plumb line, there is a wall, and that wall has
to be built on a foundation in order for it to stand the judgment
of God. Turn to me to Zechariah. Zechariah chapter four, verse eight. Moreover, the word
of the Lord came unto me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have
laid the foundation of this house. His hands also shall finish it,
and who shall know? Thou shalt know that the Lord
of hosts hath sent me unto you." Now Zerubbabel here is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the foundation of the wall. He's the stone which the builders
rejected and God has made him to be the head of the corner.
And the only way that that, you see, men are building teetering
walls with untempered mortar, and they're not true to the plumb
line because they're depending on something that they're doing
for the hope of their salvation. And here's what our Lord's saying,
the day of judgment is coming, Christ is coming again, and God
will judge all men in righteousness according to this man. Turn back
with me to our text. The Lord is going to expose the
faulty foundations of all works Gospels. Everything is going to be judged
according to the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why the Apostle Paul said, all that I might be found in him.
not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that
righteousness which is by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. His perfect faithfulness and
His perfect righteousness is the standard. That's the plumb
line. That's the only foundation that
will hold up the wall of salvation, and everything else will be destroyed. And that's how the Lord is leading
the apostle to conclude this message in Athens. Go back with
me to our text. All of this summarized is because
The reason God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent
and to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ is because God Almighty
has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by the man which he hath ordained. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ is gonna have to be all our righteousness before God
in order for us to stand this day of judgment. Scripture speaks
of it as the judgment seat of Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ
will either speak for those whom he has bend their righteousness, or
he will say, I never knew you, you workers of iniquity, depart
from me. But Lord, we've done many wonderful
works in thy name, oh no. That's what the apostles say
in here. And that's our message. Lord, no part of my salvation,
is dependent upon anything other than the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the man by which God will
judge all men. He is that perfect plumb line. When Abraham was pleading with
God for Sodom, And particularly for Lot, you remember he kept
saying, Lord, if there be 50 righteous men, and the Lord said,
I won't destroy the city if there be 50, and got all the way down
to five, and said, I won't destroy the world. I won't destroy the
city if you find five righteous men. The Lord did destroy Sodom, but
only after righteous Lot was brought out. And here's what
Abraham said to God in his plea for God to be righteous to the
city and to Lot. He said, will you slay the righteous
with the wicked? Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Yes, the judge of all the earth
will do right. He will judge all men by the
standard of his own son. The Lord Jesus Christ will either
stand in our stead for all our salvation and all our righteousness,
or he will stand as our judge. Notice with me in our text. Not only is there a day of judgment,
and not only will that day of judgment be done in righteousness
by the God-man, the one whom the Lord has ordained, but notice,
how do I know? What's my hope? that he'll stand
in my stead and that he'll speak on my behalf and represent me
before God and be my surety and my salvation. What is my hope?
Well, the Lord tells us in the rest of this verse, whereof he
hath given assurance. Here is our assurance unto all
men in that he hath raised him from the dead. The resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the assurance that we have. You remember when the Jews wanted
a sign and the Lord said to them, a wicked and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign, but no sign will be given unto it except
for the sign of Jonah, who spent three days and three nights in
the belly of the whale. And so shall the son of man spend
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And then
just as Jonah was brought forth to life, so the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's our assurance. Here's
our assurance. Our assurance is that God is
completely satisfied with what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. The only question we have to
ask ourselves is, am I satisfied with what God's satisfied with?
Because that's faith. That's how, you see, that's the
issue. The day of judgment is coming. All will be judged by
the standard of the righteous son of God. And here's our assurance
that God has raised him from the dead. God has rewarded him,
if you will. God has, God could not allow
His Holy One to see corruption. God was, if we can say it this
way, obligated to raise His Son from the dead, for He had accomplished
everything that the Father sent Him to do. Turn with me to 1
Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. We'll begin reading in verse 21. The like figure, speaking
of the day of judgment, when God sent that great deluge and
destroyed the earth, and there were eight that were saved in
the ark. And you know what that ark is.
That ark is Christ. It was pitched, not with, untempered
mortar. It was pitched within and without.
It was waterproof. It was, and that word is the
word for atonement in the scriptures. It was covered so that the water
could not destroy. The same water that destroyed
the earth lifted up the ark, and that ark is Christ. And the
Lord said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the
coming of the Son of Man. The same judgment is coming,
but those that are found in Him, those that are found in Him will
be lifted above the just judgment of God. the like figure, verse
21, where unto even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So he's talking
about baptism where he's not talking about water baptism.
He's talking about that baptism that the Lord spoke to the disciples
about when John and James said, Lord, we want to sit on your
right hand and on your left hand. And what did the Lord say? Are
you able to be baptized with the baptism that I shall be baptized
with? And are you able to drink of
the cup that I shall drink from? He was talking about what was
going to happen on Calvary's cross. when he drank the bitter
dregs of sin and satisfied the justice of God, when he was baptized
into death and justice. And John James said, Lord, we
are. And the Lord said, indeed, you
shall be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with, and you
shall drink of the cup that I'm drinking of. because you're going
to be in me. And that's what Paul meant when
he said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Our union with the Lord
Jesus Christ, when he went to the cross, all those that God
elected went with him to the cross. Justice was satisfied. Sin was put away. God's people
redeemed. And so now what he's saying here,
it's the, what gives the proof of that? What gives the proof
that God was satisfied with what the Lord Jesus Christ did on
Calvary's cross? What is the proof? It's the resurrection. In our text, in Acts chapter 17,
when they heard of the resurrection, they began to mock. They thought,
you know, we were following you in these stories that you're
telling us from a faraway land, but the resurrection, that's
just too far of an exaggeration. No, we can't swallow that. And
the resurrection is our hope. No sign will be given except
the sign of Jonah. Look at, look at, Look at this
verse again, verse 21. And the like figure, whereunto
even baptism, the baptism of death of Christ, doth now save
us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience towards God. Now, how can I have a good
conscience towards God? The only way that my conscience
can be clear is if there's no charge to be made against me.
If I'm innocent, if I'm sinless, if I'm perfect, that's the only
way my conscience is going to be clear. Otherwise, my conscience
is going to remind me of all the things in my life that are
not perfect. Here's the gospel. As he is,
so are we in this world. When the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have the answer of a good conscience towards God by the baptism or
by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the resurrection
of Christ that proves to us that sin's been put away, that justice
has been satisfied. God is pleased. He raised his
son from the dead. And the scripture calls the Lord
Jesus Christ the firstborn among many brethren. It's our hope
that Christ was raised from the dead. There's our, there's our
hope. First Corinthians chapter 15.
Turn with me, turn with me there. Oh, where did this whole chapter? Look at verse 19. If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. We're a bunch of deceived fools. If we think that that in this
life only we have hope in Christ. And yet, if you listen to most
preaching today, the purpose of the gospel is
to give you hope in this life. That's all it is. It's a bunch
of moralisms, it's a bunch of, you can have a better life, you
can be a happier person. If in this life only, We have hope in Christ, we are
of all men, most miserable. Look at verse 17. And if Christ
be not raised, then your faith is in vain and you are in your,
you're still in your sins. Then they also, which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished. Verse 20, but now is Christ risen
from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep.
For since that by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all died, so also
in Christ shall be made alive. There's our hope. Here's the
conclusion of this sermon that we've been looking at the last
couple of weeks in Acts chapter 17. There is a day, in which God will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And this
is the assurance that we have, that God has raised him from
the dead. Our Heavenly Father, we ask that
you would cause us to have the spirit of comfort as we are brought
by your spirit to believe on Christ and to rest the assurance
of our salvation in his glorious resurrection, having accomplished
the purpose for which he came. Oh, we ask it in his name, amen.