Open your Bibles if you would
to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Now in the verses we'll look
at today, we'll see that Paul preached Christ and Him crucified. Whenever the Lord opened the
door for him to be able to speak, And we know that he wrote over
in Corinthians that we preach Christ and Him crucified and
not ourselves. So whenever the Lord opened the
door for Paul to be able to preach Christ, he boldly preached Christ. And he did not shy away from
proclaiming the truth. He did not shy away from it.
He did not wonder what some would think. He unashamedly preached
Christ and Him crucified. And Paul's message we know was
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And we'll read verses 13 to 43,
but we're going to go through verse by verse here. And I want
us to take note that Paul will Build up the preaching Christ
and him crucified, which are due in verses 23 to 39. Paul and Barnabas had come to
Antioch in Sadia by the providence of God. What we read here happened
and fell out all according to the providence of God. Always
remember that. You are here today by the providence
of God to hear this message by the providence of God, saved
or lost. It's by God's providential hand
that we have been bought together. And so Paul and Barnabas have
come to Antioch and Sadia by the providence of God. And Paul,
we will see, will have a door opened for him by the Lord, of
course, because only the Lord opens the door for us to preach
and proclaim the gospel. And here have the Lord open the
door for him to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Now remember, Paul and his
company would be noticed as strangers. They'd be noticed as strangers
who had come to the synagogue. Because the Jews of that place
would be well known to one another. And they would notice when there
was two or three people in the congregation or meeting there.
that they'd not be used to seeing, they would take note of that.
Look at verse 13. Now, when Paul and his company
had leased from Paphos, they came to Pergaea and Pamphylia,
and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. Now, Paphos
was a coastal city on the west end of the island of Cyprus,
and there was a seaport there, and Paul and his company boarded
a ship that was leaving the island of Cyprus and from there they
sailed through the Sea of Pamphylia and landed at Perga, a place
in Asia Minor. Leaving that place, they went
to Antioch and Sadia, and this is brought forth to distinguish
it from Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries. Look at verse 14, but when they
departed Perga, they came to Antioch and Sadia and went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. Now we will see right before
us here in the scriptures that a door of utterance will be opened
by the Lord for Paul. Paul wrote in the epistles, pray
that a door of utterance would be open for me. Pray that for
me, that folks in this community, that a door of utterance would
be open for me to be able to speak to some of them as I'm
out and about, or some of you too. Pray for a door of utterance
for you, to tell the wonderful things that God had done for
you. It's wonderful. So a door of utterance will be
opened again by God's sovereign hand, by his providence, for
Paul. And we'll see that Paul proclaims
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these men of God were not
legalists. They were not trying to keep
the law of Moses. They knew that the unbelieving
Jews still observed the Sabbath day and still assembled on that
day for public worship. So Paul and Barnabas took advantage
of the opportunity before them. They always had a desire to preach
the gospel. Every preacher has a desire to
preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the Lord
opened the door, we will see that God, the Holy Spirit, was
pleased to open the door and give them utterance for that
very purpose, for Him to proclaim Christ. Look at verse 15. And
after the reading of the law, the rulers of the synagogue,
sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any
word of exhortation for people, say on. Now God's preachers,
again, desire to preach the gospel. And one grace preacher I know,
he said, when a door of utterance is opened, To a preacher it's
like saying sycamore to a dog. And that's true. Because we love
to preach the gospel. We love to preach the gospel. And the gospel preacher will
not promote himself. But he will delight in proclaiming
the only savior of sinners. The only Savior of sinners. Seeking
to bring glory and honor and praise to our great God. Seeking
to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we also pray that
God would make the preaching of the gospel effectual. Effectual. Look at verse 16. Now Paul takes
that opportunity right there. Knowing that God is the one who's
opened this door. Then Paul stood up and beckoning with his hand.
said, men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. So when
it came to preaching the gospel, Paul, by the sovereign grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, was a master builder, a wise master
builder, and God, the Holy Spirit, had given his apostle the special
gifts that were needed to gain the attention of any class of
people. Paul could pretty well speak to anyone. He'd probably be likened to someone
who'd never met a stranger. He could speak to pretty well
anybody. And he was well acquainted, also remember, with the religious
customs and cultures of the Jews, as he was a Pharisee at one time.
And he was raised in the Jewish religion. So all of Paul's messages
we know pointed to Christ, pointed right to Christ. They pointed
to who He was, they pointed to what He had accomplished for
His chosen people, and they pointed to where Christ the Lord is right
now. We'll see that too as we go further
on in the text here. The Lord Jesus Christ is God,
our sovereign creator, and He became a man so that he could
die for the sins of his people, so that he could reconcile us
to God. Think of this, you who believe. There is no way for you to be
reconciled to God outside of Christ. Think of you who sit
here and do not know Christ. There's no way for you to be
reconciled to God without Christ. No way. No way for any human
to be reconciled with God but through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the only way. So Paul took every opportunity
he had to preach and proclaim Christ. He preached that he's
risen from the grave and that he's now seated on the sovereign
throne in glory, ruling over all things in heaven and earth
as the exalted glorified God. And we bow down to the Lord Jesus
Christ, don't we? We who are his people, we confess
him as our sovereign Lord, our savior. And if one does not do
that, they will die in their sins and go to eternal torment. And all of God's preachers know
that salvation is of the Lord. We know that it's of the Lord
from start to finish. And we know that we can't deal
with the heart. We know that God must deal with the heart.
Only God can save you. I preach and proclaim the one
whose salvation is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him alone. Salvation is a work of God. And we do not water down the
gospel when we preach and proclaim the gospel. God's preachers don't
water down the gospel. We don't set out to offend people,
but we know that the gospel's offensive, isn't it? When the
gospel's preached and proclaimed, it offends the pride of man.
So it's not our intent to deliberately offend anyone, but when salvation
is preached by works, the offense of the cross is ceased. Ceased. We preach salvation only in Christ,
in Christ alone. Paul, knowing that this would
gain their attention, look, note this starting in verse 17. He
begins his message by giving his hearers a brief account of
the history of the Israelites. Look at verse 17 to 22. The God
of this people of Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people
when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. And with
an high arm bought he them out of it. He bought them out by
his sovereign power, didn't he? Because God is absolutely sovereign.
And about the time of forty years, suffered he their manners in
the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the
land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. God is nothing
to be messed with. He's no one to be taken lightly.
At all. Scripture just declares there
He just destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. And after that He gave unto them
judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet.
And afterward they desired a king and God gave unto them Saul,
the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space
of 40 years. And when He had removed him,
see God raises up kings, doesn't He? And He removes kings, however
He's pleased. It's his doing. He's sovereign. It says right there, and when
he had removed him, he raised up unto them David. So he removed
one king and he raised up another beloved. And that's what our
God does to be their king. To him also he gave testimony
and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after
mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Now, everything
that Paul had said, in the preceding verses was leading up to this
point here where we're coming. Paul is now going to preach Christ
to them. He's now going to preach Christ
and Him crucified. We'll look at that later in the
message after reading the rest of the text that the Apostle
Paul tells us in this part of the message. Five things, this
coming up, he tells us five things about the person and work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 23. of this man's seed hath God,
according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus."
Now the Jews knew that the promised Messiah was to come through the
seed of David. They knew that. But they were
still looking for Him. They were still looking for Him.
They didn't believe that Jesus whom they had crucified was the
Messiah. They didn't believe that. They didn't believe that. But through the wisdom of God,
God, the Holy Spirit, had given to Paul. He had captured the
attention of his audience by declaring first the history,
the history of Israel, a little brief history of it. And now he's going to declare
the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to bring
forth the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And in God's
promise and raising him up as Israel's savior. Look at verse
24. When John had first preached
before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people
of Israel. Paul here before us in the Holy
Scriptures referring to John the Baptist. He's the forerunner
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The majority of the Jews believe
that John the Baptist was God's prophet. And John went before
our Lord Jesus Christ preparing the way for him. by preaching
the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. Look
at verse 25. As John fulfilled his course,
he said, whom think ye that I am? I am not he, referring, he's
saying I'm not the Messiah. I'm not the Messiah. But behold,
there cometh one after me whose shoes of feet I am not worthy
to loose. Now like all of God's ordained,
sovereignly sent ministers, John did not draw attention to himself.
He pointed his followers to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was quick
to tell them that he was not the Messiah. Speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he is the one. Speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, John the Baptist said what? Behold, there cometh one
after me whose feet, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to
lose. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
one. John chapter one. John chapter one. Look at verse twenty nine. He
identified, though, who the Messiah was. John identified who the
Messiah was. John 1, verse 29. The next day,
John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith what? Behold,
behold, the Lamb of God. That's who Christ is. He's God's
Lamb. He's the sent one. He's the Messiah. He's the one sent to redeem His
people from their sins. Behold, the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. He's taken away all the sins
of His people, hasn't He? They're gone. He purchased us
with His own precious blood. Look at this. This is He, of
whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before
me, for he was before me. He came from glory. He came from
glory, beloved. Let's go back to Acts chapter
13 now. And we see here in verses 24
to 27, Paul masterfully brings the first point of five points
about the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ here before
his hearers. Notice the first point here is
the fact that Christ came to this earth. The fact that he
came to this earth. Acts 13, verse 24 to 27. When John had first preached
before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people
of Israel, and as John fulfilled this course, he said, Whom think
ye that I am? I am not he, but behold, there
cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to
loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and
whosoever among you feareth God, to you is this word of salvation
sent. Now think of this, every time
a gospel preacher gets up and preaches a gospel, the word of
salvation is sent. Now God'll do with it what he's
pleased, eh? But it goes forth with power, doesn't it? And sometimes,
when the Lord's pleased, he draws one of his lost sheep to him.
Other times, the sheep of God are built up and edified, pointed
to Christ, but it will accomplish, it will not return unto the Lord
void, will it? His word will not. But think
of this, unto you is this word of salvation sent. For they that
dwell at Jerusalem and the 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. He brings forth before is here
the fact that John the Baptist had one mission. He was sent
to prepare the way, to prepare the way, to identify the Lord
Jesus Christ. Again, who is the Lamb of God,
which we read over in John chapter 1. He will proclaim by identifying
Him, that truly He is the Son of God, truly He is God's Lamb,
truly He is God incarnate in the flesh, and He dwells among
us. So Paul brings forth the fact,
right off the bat, that the Lord Jesus Christ was here, that he
came to this earth. Again, I'll read over there in
John chapter one, you won't have to turn, but I'll read verses
29 to 34. The next day, John see Jesus coming unto him and
say, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world. This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man
which is preferred before me, for he was before me. He was
in glory, wasn't he? Before he came to this earth,
he was in glory. He's the word of God. And I knew
him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. I'll
take note of that little word right there made manifest to
Israel. To God's left, the Israel of God, that's who he manifests
himself to, isn't it? He manifests himself to his people.
Therefore, am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record
saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and abode
upon him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize
with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which
baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that
this is the Son of God. So John proclaimed who Christ
was. John proclaimed that he was the
Messiah, that he is the Son of God. That's who he was sent to
prepare the way and proclaim, identify that this truly was
the Son of God. And the Son of God came into
this world, we know why, to save sinners, to save his people from
their sins. How? By the sacrifice of himself. By the sacrifice of himself.
And every believer says, He did that for me. The second point
I'd like us to see that Paul brings forth in the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified, that Christ died. The fact that
He died. And we know that He died for
His people. We know that we're sinners. Let's
go back to Acts chapter 13. Look at verse 27 to 29. For they that dwell at Jerusalem
and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voice
of the prophets, which are read every sabbath day, they have
fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no
cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be
slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him,
they took him down from the tree and laid him in the sepulchre.
So Paul brings forth the fact of his coming, and now he brings
forth the fact of his death. He was innocent. He was a righteous
man. He knew no sin. And yet Christ
was despised and rejected by men. And the Son of God died by the
hands of wicked men. But He died according to the
purpose of God, didn't He? He died according to the purpose
of God. And He died as the sinner's substitute. Every believer says,
praise God, he did that. Praise God, he did, he died,
the sinner says, because because he alone must satisfy the justice
of God. I ask you here. Every one of
us and anyone who will hear this, can you by yourself satisfy even
one law of God by anything you do, say any action? No. Not one. But the Lord Jesus Christ came
to this world as the sinner's substitute, as the substitute
of his people, and he fully satisfied the law of God in the place of
his people. And he, I like what one old-timer
said, I mentioned this on Wednesday night as we looked at Christ
our advocate, he extinguished the wrath of God in the place
of his people. No more wrath for us. That which was rightly deserved
for us fell upon Christ. Mercy! Oh, what mercy! Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 5. It's very clear right here. The fact that He died as
the sinner's substitute. That He died to save guilty sinners
from the wrath of God. Never ever let this become commonplace as a believer. Let this ever
fill you with awe that Christ did this for you
and Christ did this for me. Look at this Romans chapter 5
starting in verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, see we have no way to save ourselves, do we? We
were fallen, dead in trespasses and sins, without any strength,
without any ability to save ourselves. Yet, for when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. You see
what the Bible calls us in our natural state? The ungodly. You don't hear that much from
pulpits today. But that's what the scripture
claims. We're sinners. And we need a Savior. Desperately. Desperately. For scarcely for
a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. And think of this, you who are
the elect of God. And we did not know this when
we were dead in trespasses and sins, did we? But God commanded
his love. Toward us in that, well, we were
yet sinners. And well, that and well, that
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That brings it right
home, doesn't it? Much more than being now justified
by His blood. Oh, praise God for the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed for the remission
of my sins. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath. Look at that. Those outside of Christ are not
saved from wrath. But the wrath of God will fall
upon them. But look at this wondrous verse. We shall be saved from
wrath through him. Why? Because the wrath of God
for our sins was totally extinguished and poured out upon Christ in
our place. Because that law has to be satisfied,
doesn't it? It has to be. That justice must
be satisfied of God because it's perfect. And it will be satisfied either
in the substitute or in the sinner. Oh, what a wondrous verse this
is. Much more than being justified by His blood, He gave His life
for us. We shall be saved from wrath
through Him. Wonder of wonders. Note in verse 27, the words speaking
of the Jews and the rulers who put Him to death, they knew Him
not. They knew Him not. You know,
give thanks if you know Him, because there was a time when
we knew Him not. And He was pleased to reveal Himself to us. And
I like what several grace preachers, I've heard this saying, I believe
this, I know who I was before the Lord saved me. And I've heard
several grace preachers say this, that in our lost natural state,
we'd have been screaming, crucify Him, crucify Him, right along
with all them Jews. Oh, what mercy God has on His
people. Oh, what mercy. Look at this,
they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets. They
did not see Christ or even know Christ. They didn't hear the
voice of the shepherd. which are read every Sabbath
day. They heard Isaiah read, they heard Jeremiah, and they
never saw Christ at all. They didn't really hear what
the prophets were saying. Because the prophets we know,
and the law was all pointing to Christ. It was all pointing
to Christ. And one of the reasons these
unbelieving Jews unjustly condemned Christ is because they didn't
know Him. Even though they read the Old Testament prophets every
Sabbath day, they had absolutely no spiritual understanding of
what they were reading. Now they were very religious,
weren't they? Oh, there's a lot of religious folks out there,
isn't there? Oh, very religious they were. They followed things,
they even made laws that just yoked people. Oh, very religious
folks. but just as lost as any hell-deserving
sinner who never darkened the door of a church. They were in
the same state. Jews were religious, but void
of spiritual understanding, and without spiritual understanding,
which only God the Holy Spirit can give you. As one commentator
said, religion will damn your soul. But Christ will save you. Christ
will save you. So Christ came to this earth,
why? To save his people from their sins. To save his people
from their sins. And he died as the substitute
of his people. Now we see Paul bring forth the
third point about the person and work of Christ. The fact
that he arose from the grave for our justification. Acts chapter
13, verses 30 to 37. but God raised him from the dead.
See, Paul just keeps preaching Christ, doesn't he? But God raised
him from the dead. And he was seen many days of
them, which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who
are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad
tidings. See, every time the Gospels preach, beloved, it's
glad tidings. I preach good news, not bad.
I preach good news for sinners. And God's people say, oh, that's
good news, isn't it? It's good news. It's wonderful news. Every time the gospel is preached,
no matter who's preaching it, for God's people, it's good news.
It's good news. If it's not, there's something
wrong. It's good news. It's good news. Glad tidings. Glad tidings. How that the promise which was
made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their
children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. As it is written
in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. And it is 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. Wherefore he saith also
in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine only one to
seek corruption. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, notice that David served
his generation by the will of God. God's preachers and people,
we serve our generation all by the will of God. Remember, we're
a chosen generation. Each of us is chosen out of our
generation. It's amazing. For David, after
he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on the
sleep, he died, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.
But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Oh, my goodness,
that's our sinless Savior. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is God's public
declaration that He is the Son of God. He is the Son of God. He's the Messiah. He's the Son
of David, and that He has put away the sins of His people.
He put them away. He's put them away. How? By the
sacrifice of himself. Because they were imputed to
him. They were imputed to him. And thereby he has satisfied
divine justice in our place. Good tidings, isn't it? Good
tidings. Wonderful news. Absolutely wonderful
news. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ is very important and an essential part of the
preaching of the gospel. Think of this. If Christ had
not risen, then our preaching is in vain. Our faith is in vain. And all
of us are yet in our sins. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
15. Paul wrote of this. Paul wrote of this over in 1
Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 14 to 17.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain. See how important the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ is to our salvation? Well, how important
is it? Well, the scripture says in Romans
that He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again
for our justification. That's how important it is. Look,
it says, Yea, and I found false witnesses of God, because we
have testified of God, that He raised up Christ, whom He raised
not up, if so be that the dead not rise, or rise not. For if
the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ
be not raised, your faith is in vain, and ye are yet in your
sins. So Paul boldly preached and proclaimed
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. See, the world
does this on supposed Easter. We preach Christ every time,
a risen Savior. We preach the birth of Christ
all the time. The fact that He came into this
world. my he's raised for rejoice beloved
rejoice beloved God the scripture says he was delivered for our
offenses which means he died on Calvary's cross in our room
in place and then the scriptures declare that he is raised for
our justification rejoice this is wonder this is glad tidings
for sinners and knowing that God is satisfied and he raised
him for our justification means that we were in Christ that God
sees us in Christ This is wonderful news. Oh, my. And we're reconciled to God by
the death of Christ, aren't we? But much more being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5 10. Oh, because Christ has died in
our place, because of the work he the work he has done as our
substitute, then the sure mercies of David, which are all in Christ,
will be bestowed upon his people. Good news. Good news, glad tidings,
beloved. The fourth point Paul brings
forth by the preaching of the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the fact that He reigns. He reigns right now. He's not
waiting to reign. He's not waiting to reign, beloved. We know that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, is now seated at the right hand of the
Father. Look at Acts 13, verses 33 to 35. God hath fulfilled the same unto
us, their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. Now
where is he? He's at the right hand of the
Father, isn't he? He's at the right hand of the Father. As
it is written in the 2nd Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee. And it is concerning that he raised him up from the
dead, now no more To return to corruption, he saith unto the
wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore,
he saith in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one
to seek corruption. He's raised from the dead, and
he's seated at the right hand of the Father. Right now. Right
now. And he is king. And he reigns
as the son of David. And the sure mercies of David
are only found in him. And they are bestowed to chosen
sinners. by the grace and mercy of God. Fifth point I'd like us to consider
from our text is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ saves. And we see this plainly bought
forth too. Plainly bought forth. Look at
verses 38 and 39. 38 and 39. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
Now remember, the word of God is sent. Through this man is
preached unto you what? The forgiveness of sins. That's
what the scripture says. The forgiveness of sins. And
by him, all that believe are what? Justified. Remember before
I said we couldn't justify ourselves? We couldn't satisfy the law of
God? This is marvelous. Do you see
how wonderful this news is? Do you see why Paul, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, wrote that this is glad tidings? And by
him all that believe, all that have faith in Christ, are justified
from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the
law of Moses. See, the law can't justify us.
What does it do? It shows us our sin. It shows
that we're but sinners. It shows us that we have no ability
to save ourselves. Oh, my. And by him, that being
Christ, all that believe, all that rust and trust and look
to Christ. No matter how small your faith
is, because faith's a gift of God, isn't it? Are you looking to Christ? Do
you look to him? Is he your only hope? And by him, all that believe
to believe on him. You trust him and rest in him.
And by him, by Christ, all that believe are justified from all
things from which you could not be justified by the law, law
of Moses. The gospel of the free grace
of God in Christ is a message, beloved, of redemption accomplished. Redemption accomplished by the
substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it is a proclamation of the
free forgiveness of all our sins and complete justification for
all who believe upon the grounds of justice satisfied. Justice
satisfied, how? By the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Before God, because that's who
he died before, wasn't it? He offered himself up before
God for our sins, because our sins was against God, wasn't
it? Oh, he offered himself up to
God for his people. And then his righteousness is
imputed to us. Wonder of wonders. Scripture
declares, let's turn if you would, Romans chapter three, let's look
at this. Romans chapter three, we'll read in light of what we
just read there, in light of that. Romans chapter three, verses
24 to 26. Look at this. And you know what? If you're justified, if you're
justified in Christ, it's freely by the grace of God. It's freely,
it's a gift that's been given to you. Oh my. Being justified freely how? By
His grace. Through the redemption, there's
the cost, beloved. Oh, what a cost. Through the
redemption, through the giving of His life, through the shedding
of His blood that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God set forth. This is the
work of God. Marvel at that. We could not
save ourselves, and that which is impossible for us, God sends
His Son. God sends His Son, the Word of
God, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, that means
to make appeasement, a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at
this time His righteousness, that we might be, or that He
might be just and justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Now, just and justifier there talks about God being just in
the fact that His law must be satisfied, and His justice must
be satisfied. So not only is He the lawgiver,
think of this too, He gives the law at Sinai, right? And He's
the one who satisfies it. What mercy. He's just and He's
the justifier of His people. Wonder of wonders. And again,
I want to bring this out in verse 32. Look at this in verse 32.
And we declare unto you glad tidings. Glad tidings. How that the promise which was
made unto our fathers. Glad tidings. Those two little
words. Glad tidings. The preaching of the one true
gospel of God's sovereign mercy through the merits of the Lord
Jesus Christ is glad tidings to those who hear. Glad tidings
to those who are the recipients of the sure mercies of David.
The gospel means good news. Good news. And the preaching
of God's gospel is good news to a genuine sinner. It's good
news to a genuine sinner. And the only way that we know
that we are sinners is that the Holy Spirit reveals this to us.
That's the only way we know. And if you have had revealed
to you that you're a genuine sinner, and you're looking to
Christ, rejoice. Rejoice. Because the gospel is
glad tidings, isn't it? It's glad tidings. And when God the Holy Spirit
convicts us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, then we see
through the enlightened eyes, we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, we do not just see that we do sin, we see that
we are sin. We see that everything we do
and say and think is tainted with sin. And we see that we
have no righteousness of our own before God. And that we have
absolutely nothing to recommend us to God. Absolutely nothing. We see that
we're dead in trespasses and sins and we see that we are completely
bankrupt, helplessly and hopelessly lost. And we see that we are unable
to get ourselves out of that state. That's what God reveals to a
genuine sinner. And then we see that the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is the only righteousness that God will accept. A perfect
righteousness. A perfect righteousness. And
that perfect righteousness is given to every born-again, blood-washed
saint of God, beloved. And it's proclaimed through the
preaching of the gospel. And it's glad tidings, isn't
it? It's glad tidings. And we see that judgment day
is coming, we know it is, and that all of us must stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. And we rejoice, we who are the
blood-bought sheep of God, as on that great day we will stand
on His right hand, dressed in the perfect righteousness of
Christ. And we will hear these words. And remember, we'll only
hear these words by the grace and mercy of God. Well done,
thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. All by mercy and all by grace. So I ask you then, is not the
preaching of the gospel glad tidings to his people? Oh, it's
good, isn't it? It's good. And this is what must
be preached. We must preach the Gospel. Gospel
preachers know, and not only by that which is plainly taught
in Scripture, but from experience as well, that the majority of
those who hear the Gospel will turn a deaf ear to it. But some
will hear. Some will hear. Because of the
sovereign mercy and power of God. And because God makes it
effectual. And by God's sovereign grace,
those who hear Rejoice, rejoice in the good news, in the glad
tidings which is being proclaimed. And they will rejoice and give
thanks and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one
true living God, the only Savior of sinners. Praise His mighty
name. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
by thy providence for allowing us to gather together. Oh, Lord,
you are so wondrous to your people. You are so wondrous to us, and
the gospel is wonderful, glad tidings, which brings us great
joy, and which we can cling to, Lord, is you. Through the trials
and tribulations of this life, you are ever with us. You have
promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Glory to your name,
O Lord. We pray that if there's one here
that does not know thee, O Lord, that if it's here, it pleases
you that you reveal yourself to them. O Lord, we lift up people
we know and love before thee. We pray that you'd have mercy
upon them, O Lord. We pray that you would draw them
by thy Holy Spirit if it's thy will. We bow to thee, O Lord,
with grateful hearts for the glad tidings which you have given
us ears to hear. through the preaching of thy
word, we who are your people, we who are purchased by thy precious
blood. Glory to you, Lord. Honor and
praise in Jesus' name. Amen.