An honor, again, I always like
to say that because every time we're together, it is an honor
and a blessing to be together. And it's an honor and a blessing
to preach the gospel. Acts chapter 13 is where we'll
be tonight. Acts chapter 13. Starting in verse 32. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children. And 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.
And it is concerning that he raised him up from the dead,
now no more to return to corruption, He said, on the wise, I will
give you the sure mercies of David. The sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another
psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, David served his generation by the will of God. Sovereign
Almighty God fell on asleep and was laid unto his fathers and
saw corruption. But he whom God raised again
saw no corruption. This is speaking of our Mighty
King. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins. The forgiveness of sins. And
by Him, all that belief, there's the clause, all that belief,
not for those who don't believe, but all that belief, are justified
from all things, which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses. Paul has been in the synagogue
in Antioch since verse 14 of this chapter. And Antioch was
the capital of the Greek kings of Syria. A little bit of historical
background. and afterwards the residence
of the Roman governors of the province which bore the same
name. So it was a capital city. It was a capital city and it's
richly connected with the history of the Apostolic Church. Jews
settled there first in very large numbers and were governed by
their own leadership. Something I didn't know until
studying for this message, that they were given self-government
there. And they were allowed to have
the same political privileges as the Greeks. The chief connection with Antioch
is, turn if you would to Acts chapter 11, the chief connection
with Antioch is it is connected with the spread
of Christianity among the heathen. Here the first Gentile church
was founded. Look in Acts chapter 11, verse
20. And some of them were men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake
unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 21, and the hand of the
Lord was with them. And a great number believed and
turned unto the Lord. They believed and they turned
from their idols unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And look in Acts
11, verse 26. Here the disciples of Jesus Christ
were first called Christians in Antioch. When he had found
him, he bought him unto Antioch, and it came to pass that a whole
year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much
people. And the disciples were called
Christians first in Antioch. So Antioch has a connection with the establishment of Christianity
to the Gentiles. And it was also from Antioch
that Paul started on his three missionary journeys. So let's look at our text though,
it'll be in verse 38 of chapter 13. So that's just a little historical
setup for us for the message. So Paul's preaching in the synagogues,
or in the synagogue in Antioch. And that goes, one commentator
said that goes to the, in Romans where it says to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. Paul always went to the Jew first.
He always went to the synagogues and preached in the synagogues. Acts 13.38, the first point is this. Salvation
is only found through this man. Now we saw on the weekend that
we have one refuge, and that's Christ. He's our hiding place. Well, here in the New Testament
now, we see in verse 38, Be it known unto you therefore, men
and brethren, that through this man, and only this man. Nowhere else. Salvation is only
through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's nowhere else. And it's plainly
stated right there in our text, isn't it? It's plainly stated. Through this man. Not through
Mary. Not through Muhammad. Not through
anyone else, but Christ. And only Christ alone. Paul in verse 23 tells him that
this man spoken of in verse 38 is Christ. It's only, or verse 23, I'm sorry,
verse 23. This man seed hath God according
to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior Jesus So this man's identified in in
verse 23 and he's mentioned again verse 38 through this man See
remember Paul didn't have the New Testament did he so he's
expounding to them Christ in the Old Testament He's preaching
to them Christ in the Old Testament. So we know based upon the scripture
that salvation is only through Christ. It's through no other. And there's also no other need
of any other way of salvation. Except in Christ. This man. The man Christ Jesus satisfied
God's law of justice in the sinner's room instead. So there's no need
for self-justification. No need for works because he
did it all. No need to try to gain merit
and favor before God because Christ did it all. Salvation's not in our doing.
It's in what he's done. So through this man, and only
through this, not through your works, not through praying a
prayer, although the Christian prays, don't we? Of course we
do. We cry out to God all the time. God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. And there has never been a man
such as this man. There has never been a man such
as this man. And there's never been a man
that said words such as this man. And there never will be another
man such as this man. God manifest in the flesh. Man,
like you and I, fully human, but inside the nature. Inside
him, the Godhead dwelt bodily, scripture declares. God in the
flesh, fully man, and yet fully God. Through this man, the God-man,
Christ. In Him alone, He is the brightness
of the Father's glory in the express image of His person.
This man, the King, the crucified, risen Lord, through this man,
the God-man. Let's look at our text again.
Through this man is preached unto you. This is why it's vital to preach
Christ. In not 16 ways you can better your life. Or how to have
a better marriage. It's not about that stuff, is
it? Not at all. Not at all. I remember when I
was in religion, you know, how to live a victorious Christian
life. Oh, we just ate that stuff up. Garbage. He's got the victory. He did
it all. See, I remember then, when you
tried to do that thing, I'm talking about me. I'm not saying, but
when I tried to do that, what would I do afterwards when I
thought I did it? Well, I'm living. I just start boasting. There
ain't no room for boasting in the gospel, none at all. We boast about Christ and about
what he's done. This is what's vital. We must
preach Christ, we must. The preacher has one message,
Christ and him crucified. The sinner substitutes. Turn
with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 2, verses one to three. One message we had, just one
message, and that's Christ. Now, think of Paul. This man
was a Pharisee of Pharisees, wasn't he? Trained man, like,
highly intelligent man. He could probably go toe to toe
with anyone debating-wise. He could have probably went circles
around people. And in my mind's eye, I've pictured
this often, and this is just me, is he's going through Corinth,
and he hears a talk over here about something, and he hears
a talk over there about something, and he's got his, I'm determined
to preach Christ. I'm not gonna get involved in
all that stuff. And look what he says in 1 Corinthians
2 1-3. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech." Now, he could have
probably flowered them with speech. He was trained in speaking in
all kinds of things. He's a Pharisee of Pharisees.
But he says, I didn't come with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
man's wisdom. Declaring unto you the testimony
of God, for I determined not to know anything among you. Here
it is. Ting. Save Jesus Christ and him
crucified. That's the bell that he just
keeps ringing. Christ, Christ, Christ. I only preach him and
him crucified. That's the only thing that can
save us. See, salvation only comes through Christ and he must
be preached. We must proclaim the gospel.
If I tell you how to how to live a victorious life, that's not
going to save you. You may become a more moral person,
but it certainly isn't gonna do you any good spiritually. But oh, if Christ saves you.
Oh, so we have one message. And may we ponder the distinguishing
nature of the blessing of salvation. It's distinguishing grace, beloved.
He saves whom he will. It is said to be sent, preached
unto you. You're here tonight by divine
appointment. Anyone listening is listening by divine appointment.
Anyone who will listen later on, it's by divine appointment.
The gospel sent to you. Oh, may God give us ears to hear
his breath of jeopardy. Oh, may he do that. And hearts
to receive, to receive his word. So it's by divine appointment
that you're here in the gospel. The preaching of Christ comes
to us by divine appointment, by divine appointment, and it's
sent by divine direction. What also distinguishes it is
that it's not based upon man's deserving. We don't deserve the grace of
God. But he gives it to us in Christ, those who believe. If the Lord was to wait until
a man had prepared himself to receive it as religion claims,
right, no one would be saved. But the gospel comes to you.
It's preached unto you. It's preached unto me. And think of this when religious
folks will tell us, you know, that, well, it's all up to you,
right? How can anyone expect the dead
to be made alive? How can a corpse get up? It's impossible. Can a corpse
pray a prayer? Can a corpse walk an aisle? Can a corpse make himself alive? but just as Lazarus was dead. And Christ says, Lazarus, come
forth. Oh, when the shepherd calls one
of his sheep, they come alive. They come alive. Only by the
regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God, you must be born
again. You must be. Turn with me, if
you would, to John chapter 11 and put your finger in John chapter
5 as well. This is why it's vital to preach
the gospel. We must, must, must preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We must. Our great king said this, I come
that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. Look at John chapter 11, verses
25 and 26. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, You ever heard of the popular
doctrine of justification by death? It's really, really popular in
the world. Somehow, someone who lived like
hell and did whatever they pleased, all of a sudden is in heaven
when they die. Now, according to this, he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet he shall live. It must
be born again. Oh, the believer has faith in
Christ in him alone. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. And he asked the question. Believest
thou this? Believest thou this? Oh, that
should be born again of the Spirit of God. Oh, that should flee
to Christ. And in John 5.25, I remember a grace preacher telling
me that his father-in-law was saved with this verse. Sat for
years under the gospel and didn't know Christ. Heard the gospel
for years. And this is the very verse that
he heard preached. And the Lord saved him just like
that. Verily, verily, John 5.25. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead, the dead spiritually,
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, just like Lazarus. Lazarus,
come forth. You remember, he calls his sheep
each by name, doesn't he? Oh, it's wonderful. The dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. It's not a question. We're gonna look at that Sunday
night. Folks say that folks can resist the Holy Spirit and if
he's drawing them, no. If God, the Holy Spirit gets
a hold of you and starts to turn you to Christ and you're one
of God's sheep, you will flee to Christ. Can anyone resist God? I think
not. So this is why it's absolutely
vital that we preach the gospel. It's vital. We don't preach ourselves,
because that would help no one. We preach Christ and Him crucified,
the sinner's only hope. Oh, that it might be today, that
anyone who's listening, oh, that it might be today if you're lost.
That you who are dead spiritually might hear the voice of the Son
of God and live. We pray God would make it so.
But we know it's only His doing. But that's our prayer, isn't
it? For our loved ones. We don't know who God's elect
are. Oh, that they might be made alive.
So the first point was, through this man, and that's Christ,
right? It's preached unto you, it's preached to us. What do we preach through Christ?
The forgiveness of sins. It's preached unto you, the forgiveness
of sins. Turn with me, if you would, to
Proverbs chapter five. Do you know that man is pictured
in scripture as a prisoner of sin? And it's like cords that
wrap around us. and bind us? Our sins are the cord whereby
man is bound away from God. Proverbs chapter 5 verses 21
and 22. I remember a long time ago seeing
this and it just, oh, what a picture. What a picture. For the ways
of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all
his goings. There's nothing that we do that
doesn't escape the eye of God. Look at this though. His own
iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holding
with the cords of his sins. Bound up. Bound up by our sins. Man has become a slave of sin
because of the fall of Adam. And our captivity is not only
due to the fall of Adam, but our own sin as well. We all know
that, don't we? Thus, in our fallen state, we're
presented as a prisoner, held captive by the cords of
sin, bound up by our own iniquities. Romans 5 says this, Wherefore,
by his one man's sin entered into the world, through Adam
and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for that all have
sinned. So when Adam fell, we fell with
him. But praise be to God, turn with
me if you would to Isaiah chapter 61. Praise be to God, there's
hope that we who are held by sin, held prisoner by sin, shall
be set free in Christ. The forgiveness of sins is preached
unto you. How many years since? All. All. See, any religion devised by
man, you got to do something, right? And you never got to stop
doing. You always got to keep doing. But we preach that Christ
has done it all. He did it all. There's nothing
for us to do. We believe, right? We look to
Christ. He did it all, beloved. Isaiah chapter 61, verses 1 to 3. The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good things unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted. Are you brokenhearted? Christ
can bind you up. He can fill you with the joy
of His salvation. He proclaimed liberty to the
captives. Are you a captive by your sin? Flee to Christ. That's
what we found, refuge and hiding place in Christ. Oh, hasn't He
set you free from your sins? Oh, what a wonderful Savior.
In the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Remember,
bound by the cords of our sins. Free in Christ. Set free. to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the plantain of the Lord, that he might receive
all the glory. He might be glorified. We don't
want to glory in what we do, because we didn't do nothing
but sin. But we got a mighty Savior, and
we glorify His name. We praise what He's done for
us. So through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Through His dying on Calvary's
cross, in the place of his people is elect. The gospel of the free
grace of God in Christ is the message of redemption accomplished. It's accomplished, he did it.
By the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ in him alone. He accomplished what he set out
to do. And what did he set out to do? To save his people from
their sins. And he did it. He did it. Oh, it brings us joy. It is a proclamation of the free
forgiveness of sins. And complete justification for
all who believe on Christ. on the grounds of justice satisfied, in righteousness imbued. Our righteousness is like filthy
rags, but we receive the perfect righteousness of Christ. And it is a result of the divine
act of justification of God's elect in Christ. the forgiveness of sins. There's no sin it won't cover. None. No sin it won't cover. Now, man
may remember sin, right? We may remember folks that wronged
us sometimes to our shame. But the great king remembers
our sin no more. as far as the east is from the
west. God. No sin it will not cover, and
no hardness of heart it will not overcome. So if you have a friend or a
relative and you think, oh man, they're so hard-hearted. Well,
if it's one of God's sheep, the grace of God is gonna overcome
that. Think of how we were ourselves. John Newton said, someone came
to John Newton and there was a well-known drunkard who the
Lord had saved. And this young brother comes
in and says, Brother, Brother Newton, can you believe that
God saved that man? He said, yeah. The Lord saved
me. I can believe he can save anyone.
And that's the truth. We know what we are. Oh, we have
a mighty savior. We have a mighty, mighty savior.
So there is no sin that will not cover me. May that just be.
You know, we we know what we what we are and what we've done,
but there's no sin. The grace of God cannot cover. In Christ, it's an absolute forgiveness. Absolute. Everything that God required
of the elect for the salvation of our souls the Lord Jesus Christ
did it There's nothing left It's not well, maybe he did it all
and now the rest is up to you Preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins all your sins And this forgiveness of sins
And Christ is gracious. And it's free from cost for us.
But oh, what the Lord Jesus Christ went through to redeem us. It's a gift given to us. As I said earlier, we don't deserve
it. But yet he gives it to his people. He bestows it upon his
people. Because he's loved them with
an everlasting love. And let us ponder that. in everlasting
love from eternity. When did he love us? In eternity. How far back is eternity? Well,
we know angels were created, right? Further back than that. We know the world and the stars
and everything before us is great. He loved his people with an everlasting
love. Christ is said to be the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. So this forgiveness is in Christ,
the God-man, and it's a complete forgiveness. This forgiveness of sins in Christ
makes a man holy, We're set apart in Christ, as well as safe. Remember the rock we looked at
in the hiding place? That traveler was safe behind
that rock. So is God's people in Christ.
Turn with me, if you would, to Ezekiel 36. This forgiveness of sins in Christ
is absolute. It will not be revoked or lost
by our doing. See, some in religion say you
can have salvation and then lose it and get it again, or go off
to the deep end and get it again. No, if a person's saved, the
Lord will keep them. and your desire to come and hear
the gospel. He wants to hear the gospel. He wants to be with
God's people. This forgiveness of Christ was
a transaction made once for all the elect between the Father
and the Son. Ezekiel 36 31-33 Then shall ye remember your own
evil ways and your doings that were not good. And shall loathe
yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord God. Be it no one unto you, be ashamed
and confounded for your own ways, O house Israel. Thus saith the
Lord, look at this mountaintop. Thus saith the Lord God in the
day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities.
I will also cause you to dwell in cities in the way shall be
built. Cleansed you from all your iniquities. Ezekiel 36 verse 33. In that
day. That I have shall have cleansed
you from all your iniquities. And look at, let's go back to
Acts chapter 13. So through this man, Christ is
preached unto us the forgiveness of sins, right? And then we'll look at verse
39. So the gospel must be preached. Christ must be preached and proclaimed
because there's salvation nowhere else. This is why it's vital
to preach Christ. We must. We must, we must preach
Him. Look at verse 39. And by Him, all that believe are justified
from all things. Connect that with the forgiveness
of sins. From which ye could not be justified
by the law of Moses. We cannot be justified by the
law of God. All it does is condemn us. All through Christ. All who believe
are justified from all things. What wonderful news. What wonderful news. What wonderful
words. Which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. So we can come to the conclusion,
therefore, that justification before God can never be found
in the law. It can only be found in Christ
through this man is preached unto you. The forgiveness of
sins. And here before us, we also have
the responsibility of man. I remember an old preacher saying, if you go to hell, it's all you. You're fully responsible for
your sins. But if you go to heaven, it's all God. It's all him. It's all his mercy. It's all
his grace. What would happen if there was
no election? No one would be saved. So justification before God can
never be found in the law. It can only be found in Christ. And the clause is all who believe.
So we preach the gospel to all men, don't we? And God does the
same. He does the drawing. But all
who believe are justified. Look at verse 26. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you
is this word of salvation sent. All men are commanded to repent. It is the responsibility of all
to believe. This is why we proclaim the gospel. If you do believe, if you do
trust Christ, you will be forgiven from all your sins. That's good news for sinners
like us, isn't it? It's wonderful news. We who believe, it's wonderful. This is why we proclaim it. We
know what we were. We know what we are. We know
that the Lord saved us. And we marvel. We just marvel
at his grace and his mercy in Christ. But if you refuse to believe
and if you reject the gospel and despise the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're perishing your sins and spend eternity in hell. Look
at the warning in verse 40 and 41. of the same chapter. Beware, therefore, lest that
come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold, you
despisers, in wonder and perish. For our work, a work in your
days, a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare it unto you. Oh, if you're saved, praise the Almighty God that
He saved you. Because it's all His doing. Give
Him all the glory. And if you're not saved, oh may
God, may He give you faith to believe. May He grant you faith,
because that's what He did for us. He granted us faith. We who were unwilling were made
willing. Mercy beggars. And we come to Christ, oh God,
have mercy on me. The sinner, what does he do?
He has mercy. and not turn us away. Oh, it's marvelous. Marvelous gospel. Flee to Christ. May we just think on these things
this week that God is our refuge and our strength and our hope. And if you're one of his and
you're in it, he'll never lose you. Never. What a wonderful
Savior. He says, I'll see you when it's
time. We like that. We're going to
close with that every Wednesday night, eh? Because that's wonderful.