It is particularly from verse
37 through to verse 41 that I would like to base a few thoughts this
morning. I was reading, as I read the
scriptures, I have a one-year Bible. I read the portion of
the Old Testament, the portion of the New Testament, a psalm
and a proverb every day. And as I was reading a few days
ago, I read this chapter and it seemed to me to be full of
the glories of the gospel of redeeming grace and so it is
because it is mainly a sermon preached by the Apostle Paul.
In verse 15, the leaders of the synagogue, the rulers of the
synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas saying, ye men and
brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people. They were invited to speak, perhaps
they had been known beforehand. We're not told of the circumstances,
how the rulers of the synagogue knew about Paul and Barnabas
being ministers of the gospel. But we run ahead of ourselves
because we need to see the context in which these verses appear. The section really begins in
verse 27 of Acts chapter 11 where the prophets from Jerusalem came
to Antioch and signified by the spirit that there should be great
death throughout all the world and the church at Antioch sent
Barnabas and Saul as a relief to the believers in Jerusalem
and in Judea. And then chapter 12 speaks about
the beginning of persecution by Herod and the release of Peter
from prison. and so, their duty having been
performed, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when
they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose
surname was Mark. So three of them returned to
Antioch, and the opening verses of this chapter, verses one to
13, tell us how the apostles, Paul and Barnabas, were separated
by the church the Holy Ghost said separate thee Barnabas and
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them and so they were
sent forth and they departed and from verse 4 through to verse
13 we see how Paul and Barnabas and also John Mark went to Cyprus
and there they preached the word excuse me and then John departed
back to Jerusalem so Paul and Barnabas they left Cyprus and
they went into Asia Minor and came to Antioch in Pisidia and
that is where we took the reading of the scriptures. And as I quoted earlier, they
were invited to address the people, if you have any word of exhortation
for the people, say on. And so Paul starts speaking about
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he brings the citizens there, the
Jews there, and the proselytes brings before them the history
of the nation how they had been in Egypt, they came out of Egypt
and then they were ruled for about 400 years by the judges
and then they had the final judge being Samuel and then King Saul
became the king of the Jews and then he was followed by David
and there he leaves the history of the Israelites and they came
to set before them of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the promise
of the Messiah, of this man's seed hath God, according to his
promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. And he was crucified,
and to you, he says, is the word of this salvation. I've said,
what a mercy it is that the word of salvation is sent not only
to the Jews, but as Paul says to the Romans, it is sent to
the Jew first, and then to the Greek, he says, for I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first. and also to
the Greek, for there is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. He majors in his ministry, he's
preaching to the congregation of that synagogue in Antioch,
in Pisidia, Asia Minor, Central Asia Minor. He preaches mainly
upon the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He declares
that he is the central pillar of the Christian faith. Without
the resurrection there is no Christian faith. If Christ be
not risen, and we have that great chapter in 1 Corinthians chapter
15, where he speaks about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain. We'll come
on to look at the resurrection more. in a few moments, but it
carries on in this chapter, for if the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised. But he issues to the Corinthian
believers this great statement, but now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. And
he goes on to speak about the victory over the grave because
of the rising again of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's almost as
if he's singing a song of victory. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the Lord. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so he continues
speaking on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he seeks to prove from the Old Testament that the Lord Jesus
Christ is risen from the dead. He first of all, in verse 33,
quotes from the book of Psalms, Psalm 2, where he says, Thou
art my son, this day have I begun. He quotes that from Psalm 33.
2 in verse 7, I will declare the decree the Lord has said
unto me that thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee,
and he says that this begetting of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we can see that the
word begotten is used in the New Testament in two separate
ways. The first way of course is in
speaking of the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. We think of
the verse in John chapter 3 and verse 16 where we read, for God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoso
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That
he is the second person of the Holy Trinity. That the Lord Jesus
Christ is and always has been and always will be the son of
God he was begotten in eternity this day have I begotten thee
the day before creation before all worlds began the Lord Jesus
Christ was begotten of the Father the Holy Trinity have always
been in existence and always will be in existence remember
how the Apostle Paul speaks to the elders or writes to the elders
of the Hebrew Christians probably in Rome he says to the Christians
there follow the example of your elders who teach that Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today and forever Jesus Christ is always
the same just as Malachi speaks in his prophecy I am the Lord
I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob who are not consumed
it brings before us this picture of the only begotten son has
always been the eternal son of God in eternity past in time
and in eternity to come he is always and will always be the
son of God but there is also this other as a meaning of the
word begotten, referring to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thou art my son this day, this
day after he was crucified, after he had lain in the tomb, after
he had paid the penalty of sin, for there was no other good enough
to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gates
of heaven and let us in. This day, this first day of the
week, where he came out of the tomb in the same body in which
he was crucified. He came out of the tomb because
he was dead, he was buried, and he rose again triumphant over
death. A number of times then, the Apostle
Paul refers to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, but
God raised him from the dead and and verse 37, but he whom
God raised again saw no corruption. So he speaks of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus being the begetting again, begotten from the dead,
it says elsewhere in the New Testament. My son, this day have
I begotten thee. And we are reminded again how
the Lord Jesus Christ is alive from those words that were spoken
by the Lord Jesus Christ on that Lord's Day many years ago. John
was in the Isle of Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony
of Jesus Christ. He says, I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's Day and he heard this great voice behind him that
said, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. And then
he'd go to the Lord Jesus goes on to say to John Fiannaught,
I am the first and the last. Now as we think of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, is he the first and the last in
our hearts, in our experience, in our lives? Do we constantly
look unto the Lord Jesus Christ? John stood by the banks of Jordan
and he saw the Lord Jesus Christ coming to him and he shouted
to the crowd behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world how have we beheld the Lord Jesus Christ are we
running with patience the race that is set before us looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith he is the first
in our salvation because he wrought out our salvation he came from
the glories of heaven I quoted earlier this morning, he was
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. He is
the first, he is the beginning and he is the one who begins
that work. in our hearts. Has there been that beginning
of a work of grace in our hearts? You remember how the Apostle
Paul writes to the Ephesians, For by grace are ye saved, through
faith, and not of yourselves, not of works, lest any man should
boast. We can bring all our works, we
can bring our endeavours, but there is nothing. All our righteousness,
says the scripture, are as filthy rags. but Joshua was clothed,
we read he was clothed in filtered garments in the book of Zechariah and he is there standing before
the Lord now Joshua was clothed with filtered garments and stood
before the angel and here Joshua is pictured as a type of the
church, as a picture of the church and the angel said take away
the filthy garments from him and unto him he said behold I
have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee and I will clothe
thee with change of raiment what a mercy it is to be clothed in
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ remember how the
prodigal returned from being in a distant country he was weary
he spent all that he had on righteous living and he came to be in hunger
he came to be in want and he went and worked and fed the swine
and he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that
the swine did eat but he came to himself he was brought to
see his situation he was brought to see his state and he came
back to his father the father welcomed him welcomed him and
cast his arms around him and then took away those filthy rags
caked with mud from the pigsty and he gave him a change of garment
he put a ring on his finger and he put shoes on his feet no longer
was he a slave no longer was he a slave to sin but he was
back in the family so the Lord Jesus said I am the first and
the last when we come to pass from this life from time into
eternity Is the Lord Jesus Christ going to be with us? To heaven,
are our credentials clear? Have we that assurance in our
hearts that he is our saviour and our lord? Fear not, I am
the first and the last. But what I was going to get onto
was this verse 18 of Revelation 1, where the Lord Jesus said,
I am he that liveth. and was dead. And behold, I am
alive forevermore. Amen." And that word, amen, it
literally means, so be it. I am alive forevermore. So be
it. And the church and the Christian
believer echoes that cry, amen. So be it. The Lord Jesus Christ
is alive and alive forevermore. Because without the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no eternal life. There is
no heaven. There is no forgiveness of sins. It is all based in the death
and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am he that liveth
and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore and have the
keys of hell and of death. And he causes his people to enter
into heaven. So this word begotten is used
in the sense of being begotten from the dead. he goes on to
prove the resurrection from the covenant of God's grace in verse
34 I will give you the sure mercies of David 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
and that's found in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 3, again here we
have the invitation of the gospel, the gospel invitation is addressed
to those who are thirsty, those that are hungry, and then he
goes on to say, and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David, The covenant of grace
is guaranteed in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
remember, you will recall, the last words of David as he was
there on his deathbed, recorded for us in 2 Samuel 23 and verse
5. He says, although my house be
not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation.
And we look at that covenant, we look at the covenant head
as he hangs there upon Calvary's cross we see him shedding his
precious blood we see the crown of thorns upon his head and we
see the blood trickling down his temples we see the blood
flowing from his hands see from his head, his hands, his feet
sorrow and love flow mingling down right sides at once we see
the surety of the covenant and to show that the covenant is
guaranteed the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead he was
risen from the dead I will make an everlasting covenant with
you even the sure mercies of David and David as we have seen
says that that covenant is an everlasting covenant just as
the Lord Jesus Christ is everlasting just as the Almighty God, the
Triune God is everlasting and can never fade away so the covenant
of God's grace can never fade away it is there, it is established and it is sure it certainly can
be depended upon things in this world will pass away this world
will pass away We cannot save the earth. The pundits and the
politicians and those who are interested in making a fast buck
or two are throwing at us climate change, climate change, climate
change. We've got to save the world. We can never save the
world. We can never save the world.
it is a nonsense we go back to the book of Genesis and we read
of the promise to Noah when he came out of the ark the Lord
said to him while the earth remain the seed time and harvest and
cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall
not cease and it begins with that word while whilst it is
in existence. And the inference there is that
there will come a day when the earth no longer is in existence. And again, Paul writes to the
Hebrews where he speaks about the earth being folded away. Thou, Lord, in the beginning
hath laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are
the works of thine hand. They shall perish. They shall
perish. This is a word of God. It's not the word of a scientist.
A scientist who has got no evidence whatsoever to say that this world
is heating up and we can save the
earth. No. God has said that this world
will pass. Almighty God has said that they
will perish. And as a vesture, they shall
perish but thou remainest and they all shall wax old as doth
a garment and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall
be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail
what a mercy it is that even though this world will pass away
the child of God has that certainty that covenant of God is assured
it is sure and certain and it will continue forever because
it comes from the mind of Almighty God I will give you the sure
mercies of David and what are the sure mercies of David? well they are mentioned in the
next verse wherefore he saith also in another psalm thou shalt
not suffer thine holy one to see corruption you see the promise
is that the Lord Jesus Christ is alive. He did not see corruption. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
could not die. He could not die. He is the eternal
Son of God. And you see, death is a result
of sin. Paul waxes eloquent on this in
the epistle to the Romans. He said, sin entered into the
world and death by sin. as in Adam, all die, because
we are corrupt, we possess a corrupt nature, we possess a fallen nature,
and it will one day die and fall into the grave. But the Lord
Jesus Christ could not die until he gave permission, until permission
was given by him. Go back to the record of the
transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, Moses and Elias, stood
with him on the mountain, they were talking, and what was the
subject of their conversation? Well, one of the gospel records
tells us, you know, he spoke about the death that he should
accomplish. We never accomplish death. Death
comes upon us, whether it be by disease, whether it be by
accident, or whether it be by old age and wearing out. Our
life is taken from us. but not so the Lord Jesus Christ
he gave permission for that death he accomplished that death what
a mercy it is that that death was with a purpose it was with
a purpose of bringing many sons to glory it was with a purpose
of calling his church to himself and saying to to his people on
that final day come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world and so his body
saw no corruption one of the queens of Henry VIII was buried
in Sudley Castle back in the 1930s they exhumed her body and and they opened the casket and
the body was encased in lead then they opened the lead and
they found but a little putrefaction because the body had been kept
without air, without water and it had been opened previously
in the 19th century and where it had been opened there was
putrefaction when we are placed in the tomb our body decays,
the water and the air that is there
causes corruption and we dust our in Genesis and thus we will decay
but not so the Lord Jesus Christ thou will not suffer thy holy
one to see corruption that's Psalm 16 and verse 10 if we turn
to it very quickly I have set the Lord always before
me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore
my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth my flesh shall also
rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither
wilt thou suffer thine holy one to seek corruption so when the
modern theologians say we believe in a spiritual resurrection they're
speaking nonsense the scriptures are quite clear it is a physical
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ he rose from the dead
and he came and stood with his disciples and that body that
sacred humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ was taken into heaven
where he ascended and from whence he will come to judge the quick
and the dead and then he more or less finishes the major part
of his sermon by saying now these things cannot apply to David
because he served his own generation verse 36 he served his own generation
by the will of God and then he fell asleep or he died and then
he was laid in his tomb and his body was corrupted it putrefied
it rotted away and there is nothing left of that body today. But,
and now the Apostle Paul goes on to give application. What is the purpose of all this
he says? Be it known unto you therefore
men and brethren. He speaks about certain blessings
that are for the people of God and with that I will conclude. Be it known unto you therefore
men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. As a result of the death and
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ there is forgiveness
of sins. Man has no need to go to the
priest of Rome and confess his sin because that man cannot forgive
sins. He doesn't have nail pierced
hands for a start, he doesn't have the scars on his and he
has not the divinity to be able to forgive people's sins. No, we go to our own high priest. Jesus, my great high priest,
offered his blood and died. My guilty conscience seeks no
sacrifice beside. His powerful blood did once atone,
and now it pleads before the throne. Oh, do we long for the
forgiveness of sins? Never a day goes by without there
being sin in our life why? because we possess a fallen nature
that nature will bring us down it will bring us down to the
grave and if not forgiven that sin will bring us down to a lost
eternity in hell but says Paul he says to that congregation
in front of him they've never heard anything like this before
all they've ever heard are the rabbis chanting out of the law
and chanting out the tradition of the elders and laying burdens
upon them even though they have the law and the prophets read
every Sabbath day all they've ever heard is burden upon burden
upon burden But the Lord Jesus Christ has lifted that burden.
Why? Because that burden has been
lifted from everyone given to Christ in covenant bondage. It's
been lifted off them and placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And
there he paid the penalty. He paid the full price. No, as
the top lady says, God cannot twice demand. payment my God can at twice demand
first at my bleeding surety's hand and then again at mine he
paid the price wounded for me wounded for me there on the cross
he was wounded for me gone my transgressions and now I am free
all because Jesus was wounded for me oh what a mercy it is
that he gave his life a ransom for me there is forgiveness with
in the Gospel. The psalmist speaks in Psalm
130 about that forgiveness. He says, If thou, Lord, shouldst
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Oh, if we stood
before God in our own natural state, our sins would be hanging
up upon us, and just think of the sin from childhood right
through to adulthood right through to old age if the Lord spares
us just think of all the sins hanging upon us they would wear
us down I doubt that we would be able to stand in God's presence
because of the weight of sin upon us but the Lord says if
thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities O Lord, who should stand? we
cannot stand before God we cannot stand before a holy God but the
psalmist goes on to say that there is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be free. Do we know that forgiveness?
Have we been to that fountain? Have we been washed in the cleansing
flood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Zechariah speaks about the fountain. In that day there shall be a
fountain open to the house of David. and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness that fountain is there for washing
in my eldest daughter went to Japan some years ago on a school
exchange in Tokyo it was rather hot and she was rather thirsty
and she saw a fountain so she went and put her hands
under the flowing water and quenched her thirst in the meantime the
Japanese people were gathering around her seeming to be very
annoyed with her and she found out later that it was not a fountain
for drinking water it was a fountain for washing to wash their bodies
and their souls at the same time it was a religious fountain there
wasn't quite World War 3 but peace was established when she
duly apologised but there is that fountain that fountain for
sin oh look to Calvary look to Calvary and see the spear plunging
into the side of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefrom flowed the
water and the blood showing that the Lord Jesus Christ was dead,
the blood corpuscles and the plasma separate, I'm told, on
death. The water and the blood, let
the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed,
be of sin, the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power,
or as William Cowper says, there is a fountain filled with blood,
drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that
blood lose all they're guilty at stains. Oh, there is forgiveness. Have we tasted that forgiveness?
Says John in his epistle, if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then the second application
he makes is that there is justification. And by him, all that believe,
verse 39, all that believe are justified from all things from
which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. Justification. Well, what is
justification? Well, if you've got your Bibles
open in front of you, you'll have a left-hand margin and a
right-hand margin. And the typescript is in a line. It's in a straight line. Some
books don't have a right-hand margin in a straight line they
use unjustified text but it's a word the printers
use to show that everything is in line and if we can imagine
the mind of God the law of God and the will of God on the left
hand side of the page it is in a line and then on the other
side of the book there is the right hand margin it is in a
line in conjunction together just as if I'd never sinned what
a mercy it is that we are declared righteous by the work of Christ
and by him all that believe do we believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? have we that true faith? in the
Lord Jesus Christ, have we laid all upon him for forgiveness
and if so then we are justified. Remember how Paul writes in Romans
chapter 5 and verse 1, therefore being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do we have that
peace with God? And then the final application
is that the work of God continues. Beware, therefore, lest that
come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. There is
a warning here. Behold, ye despise us and wonder
and perish. For I work a work in your days,
a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare
it unto you. In this particular, the Apostle
Paul is speaking to the unbelieving Jews. they were satisfied in
the Lord Moses and it goes on in verse 45 that when the Jews
saw the multitude they were filled with envy and they were not desirous
of knowing anything about the Lord Jesus Christ they were not
desirous of knowing anything about the new covenant and they
certainly were not desirous that anyone and almost the whole city
in this particular case that anyone they were not concerned
that others should hear the word of God. But there is a work,
the Lord does work a work. He will work that work until
every one of those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ shed his precious
blood, until everyone has been called by grace, when everyone
has been brought into the knowledge of the covenant of grace and
brought to heaven, then that work shall cease. and on the
seventh day it says in the book of creation that God rested but
there is that eternal rest in heaven that eternal rest for
every one of the children of God that eternal rest but it's
not an indolent rest we take our holidays and we go down to
the beach and we stretch out on the sand and we just rest
and we're indolent, we're not doing anything no it's not an
indolent rest like that but it is a rest of worship a rest of
thanksgiving a rest of seeing the Lord Jesus and falling down
before him till in heaven we take our place till we cast our
crowns before him lost in wonder love and praise well do we know
something of that work in our hearts? do we know something
of that work of God's grace? have been called by grace, have
been brought to see our sinfulness, and been brought to see a glorified
Christ. A Christ dying for his people,
dying for his church, and rising for their justification. May
the Lord add his blessing to these few thoughts for his sake.
Amen. We close our service by singing
the hymn 908. Saved is the sinner that believes
the sacred gospel annals show. To him repentance Jesus gives
and sins complete remission too. 908. So it is, I say, the blood that feeds
the sacred gospel of the Anishinaabe. Jesus lives, and sings for me,
in each of you. Jesus lives, always for me. our hearts, rest ye your sins,
and be in the peace of Christ. Faithful, Lord, in God, is no
fortune's gift. But Jesus, thoughtless, righteous,
empty-winged, not faithless, not loyal. Lord, in this reason I have no
right to know. In the light my soul, the hope
I take, when Christ my conscience hath foretold. And the blessing of the Triune
God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost rest, remain and abide with this
day and for evermore. Amen.