Turn with me, if you would, to
the Book of Acts, Chapter 5. As you know, the Book of Acts
is a history of the ministry of the early church. And after
the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus, God began
to do a mighty work to establish his church. In Acts chapter 2,
you don't have to turn there, we're told that many signs and
wonders were done by the apostles and that the Lord added to the
church daily those that should be saved. And I love the language
of scripture there. He added to the church daily
those that were to be saved. And that shows us that it's God
that saves and adds to his church. It's not something that we do.
It's something that God does. And he does so by the means of
preaching. That's what pleases God. It pleases
God through preaching to save them that believe. The Lord Jesus
confirmed that this was his church here in the book of Acts by the
giving of the Holy Spirit, which he had promised. And he confirmed
that it was his church making them one in heart and in soul. All who believed, all who were
part of that early church were told who were possessors of lands
and houses, sold them, and they brought the money, the proceeds
from that property, and laid it at the apostles' feet. And
distribution of that money was made unto every man, the scripture
says, according as he had need. God's people are not selfish. They're selfless. However, here
in Acts chapter five, verse one, we're told of a certain man named
Ananias. A certain man named Ananias with
Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price.
His wife also being privy to it and brought a certain part
and laid it at the apostles' feet. In verse three, Peter said,
Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? You can
read on in the chapter further and you'll see that Peter also
confronted his wife and she told him the same thing. And because
of their deceitfulness, God killed them both. Verse 11 informs us
that a great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as
heard these things. And let me say here, when it
comes to Christ and His church, God doesn't play around. God
doesn't play games. The writer of Hebrews says it's
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. However, we see that the Spirit
of God kept moving and kept blessing His church. And verse 12 tells
us that by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought
among the people. And in verse 14, we read, and
believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes, both
the men and women, insomuch that they brought forth the sick into
the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at the
least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. And there came also a multitude
out of the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks
and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were
healed, every one." What a God, what a God. He's merciful and
gracious and long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
of sin. But as always, by the sovereign
providence of God, it seems that trouble is always waiting just
around the corner. Verse 17, we're told that then
the high priest rose up And all they that were with him, which
is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. And if you have a marginal Bible,
you might notice that the word indignation there means envy. These Jewish leaders were just
flat out jealous. Jealous of what the disciples
and how the Lord was blessing the disciples. And in verse 18,
we're told they laid hands on the apostles and put them in
the common prison. And I'm telling you, the apostles,
they weren't a bit surprised. The Lord had told them that the
time would come when men would desire to kill them, all the
while thinking that they were doing God a service, doing God
a favor. John 16 too. And these things
shouldn't surprise any child of God. Our Lord said very plainly,
if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated
you. And if you were of the world, the world would love his own,
but because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you. These things shouldn't
surprise us. And then again, we see that blessed
little word, but in verse 19, the apostles thrown into a common
prison, but the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison
doors and brought them forth and said, go stand and speak
in the temple to the people all the words of this life. Now that's
what the gospel is, friends. It's the word of life. So reading on further, we won't
go verse by verse. The next morning at daybreak,
the apostles entered the temple, as the angel told them, and immediately
they began to teach and preach the gospel, the words of life.
Nothing was gonna discourage them. Neither God was on their
side, and if God be for you, who can be against you? And when
the high priest and his officials got together, they sent for the
apostles in the jail. And when the temple guards went
to the jail, the apostles weren't there. We know why. The angel
had opened the door and they had left. And when they returned,
they said the jail was locked and the guards were standing
outside the door. But when we opened them, no one
was there. And then someone arrives and
tells these religious leaders in verse 25, they said, the men
you put in jail are standing in the temple teaching the people. And in verse 26 we're told that
they again arrest the apostles and this time without any brutal
force because the Jewish leaders were afraid that the people would
stone them. And then they had their big council
meeting and in verse 28, they asked the apostle, now notice
this question, or this command really, they said, did not we
straightly command you that you should not teach in this name,
that being the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And behold, they
said, you fill Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring
this man's blood upon us. Now I want you to understand
what these religious leaders are saying here when they said
you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. They're saying
you're charging us with the murder of this Jesus of Nazareth. And
you're representing us as guilty of shedding innocent blood. You're
stirring up the people against us. You're rallying up the Romans
against us. You're going to cause them to
take vengeance on us if you don't stop. And it seems to be your
intention, they're saying, it seems to be your intention and
your purpose to claim that this Jesus who was crucified is now
risen from the dead. And in preaching those things,
you're claiming that he was a holy, innocent, and righteous person
for only one such as that would God raise from the dead. Now
you're making accusation that we've been guilty of charging
an innocent man to death. And if you don't stop, there's
going to be consequences. If you don't stop, they're going
to come back on us, and there's going to be some serious repercussions
on us. And you're going to get us in
trouble. And do you know why they thought
that? Because it was true. They were
guilty of crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ. They had accused
him to pallet, as you know. They had hired false witnesses
against the Lord to lie on the Lord Jesus Christ. Pallet had
sought to release him, but finding no fault in him, he said, I find
no fault in him. And yet they cried all the louder,
crucify him and release unto us Barabbas. They were behind
it all. And in Acts chapter 2, turn back
there, we're real close. When Peter stood on the day of
Pentecost, he was very clear about what he accused the religious
Jews of. Look at verse 22. Peter said,
ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it." And I'll just add it wasn't possible for death
to hold on, keep hold on the Lord Jesus Christ because he
was perfect. And he was innocent. You see,
being perfect, holy, and just, and righteous, he fulfilled the
holy law of God for his people, and he satisfied the divine justice
of God for his elect. And his resurrection, oh don't
miss this, his resurrection proves that his work was finished. His
resurrection proves that God accepted his sacrifice. His resurrection
proves that divine justice was satisfied. That's why death couldn't
hold him. And dear sinner, if you be crucified
with Christ, death cannot hold you either. No, sir. Why? Because you're dead to sin.
God's holy law can no longer extract any justice from you
because Christ, paid in full, you're dead of sin to the law
of God. And you're risen with him through
the faith of the operation, the power of God, who hath raised
him from the dead. Colossians 2.12. By faith, we
see ourselves buried and risen in Christ. And by faith we know
that by the operation, the power of God, that Christ was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification, Romans
4. Therefore being justified by faith, Paul said, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's where peace
is found, in Christ. By whom also you have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. Now back in Acts chapter 5, And
bear with me, because I'm wanting to give you some background here
of what's going on before I actually get to my text. Back in Acts 5, verse 28, they
said, didn't we straightly command you not to preach these things?
You filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and your intention
was to bring blood upon us. And in verse 29, then Peter and
the other apostles answered, and notice what they said. They
said, we ought to obey God rather than men. We ought to obey God
rather than men. Our Lord had told them, fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul, but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul
and body in Him, that being God. And then look at what Peter says
in verse 30. He said, the God of our fathers
raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. You did
it. And him hath God exalted with
his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses
of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath
given to them that obey him. And when they heard that, they
were cut to the heart, and they took counsel to slay them. Now believe me when I say that
the truth hurts. The truth hurts. The truth cuts
to the heart. The truth drives some to the
brink of murder. And when Peter said what he said,
we're told that they took counsel to slay the apostles. And there
again, if you read on in these verses, if it wasn't for a Pharisee
named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, who told them in verse 28,
he said, refrain from these men and let them alone. For if this
counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if
it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest happily ye be found
even to fight against God." Or in other words, it would just
be madness to fight against God if what they were doing was according
to God's will. And in verse 40, and to him they
agreed, and when they had called the apostles and beaten them,
they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus
and let them go. And they departed from the presence
of the council rejoicing. that they were counted worthy
to suffer shame for his name. Now verse 42 is my text. And daily in the temple and in
every house, they seized not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. I wanna spend the time that I
have left this morning on the subject of preaching Jesus Christ. It's quite obvious from our story
that the apostles were men who loved Christ. They were men who
believed Christ. They were men who lived Christ. And they were dedicated to Christ,
and they preached Christ. And here in verse 42, we vividly
see their dedication to the Lord. They daily preached. You see
that? They preached in every temple. They preached in every
house. They ceased not to preach. Preaching
was their life. They had been commanded, threatened
to be killed if they continued, yet they preached. They continually
preached. They weren't sidetracked with
other things. They had only one subject. They
preached Jesus Christ. Now hold your place here and
turn over just a couple pages to Acts chapter 8. Look at verse
5. Speaking of the ministry of Philip,
it says, then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and what? He preached Christ unto them.
Later, when Philip found that Ethiopian eunuch reading the
scripture in his chariot, we see in verse 35, here in Acts
chapter 8, Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same
scripture where that fellow was reading and preached unto him
what? Jesus Christ. The subject of their preaching
was Jesus Christ. And it should be. Jesus Christ
is salvation. Paul said, in whom we have redemption. Redemption is in a person in
whom we have redemption through his blood. Now turn over to a
couple more pages to Acts chapter 11. Look at 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. And the hand
of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned
unto the Lord." Now what was their subject? They came preaching
the Lord Jesus. What was the result of their
preaching? And a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Now I've said all that to say
this. We live in a day where preachers
talk about Christ. We live in a day where men say
a lot of things about Christ. But very few preach Christ. Very
few do. Did you know that you can preach
about Christ and not preach Christ? To preach Christ is to tell sinners
who He is. He's God and He's man. He's the God-man. To preach Christ
is to tell sinners what He did. He was made to be sin for His
people, that His people might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. To preach Christ is to tell sinners
why He did what He did. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. to declare what He is doing now,
where He is now. To preach Christ is to tell where
He is now. He's seated at the right hand of God in all power
and all majesty. And it's also to declare what
He's doing there. He's making intercession for
His people. You see, there's much more to
preaching Christ than to just say some things about Him. Christ
is our message. Jesus Christ is our subject.
And that's what Paul told all those educated, philosophical,
and intellectual people in Corinth. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you save or except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
He said, I'm determined to know nothing else. That's all that
mattered. And I'm telling you, friends,
that statement, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, immediately
tells us two crucial things that must be understood in order to
be saved. Such a short, simple statement
that entails so much. Jesus Christ and Him crucified
tells us who Jesus Christ is. His name is Jesus, but He is
the Christ. He's Jesus Christ. He's the anointed
of God. He's the Messiah that God promised. He's the one that the Old Testament
scriptures pointed to and said He's coming to redeem His people
from their sin. And secondly, that statement
tells us what Jesus Christ did. He was crucified on Calvary's
cross to pay the debt of sin for His elect people. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Paul said, I'm determined not
to know anything else among you. That's the most important issue.
What do you think of Christ? What do you think concerning
what He did? Now I want to quickly give you
four things that must be dealt with in order to preach Christ.
And we've already talked about the first one. Who Jesus Christ
is. It's so crucial. Jesus Christ
is God. Philippians 2.6 says that Jesus
Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. Why did he not think it robbery
to be equal with God? Because he was God. God is manifested
in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And in Hebrews
chapter 1, God the Father says, to God the Son, thy throne, O
God, is forever and ever. Isn't that amazing? God says
to God. The father says to his son, God
speaking to God, Isaiah declared, behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. Jesus Christ is God. Unto us
a child is born, a son is given, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. The everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. According to the Scripture. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. He's God. And when God sent Moses
down to Egypt to deliver the people of God, Moses asked, he
said, when I come unto the children of Israel and they're going to
say to me, what is God's name? What shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, thou shalt say unto the children of Israel,
I am, I am, hath sent me unto you. And over and over again
in the scriptures, the Lord Jesus referred to himself as I am.
He said before Abraham was I am. In the garden of Gethsemane,
when the soldiers came to take him away, they said, we seek
Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. And they fell
backwards in the presence of God. Oh, in another place, he
said, if you believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins. Jesus Christ is God. And why
is that so important to understand? Because it was God. that was
made to be sin for His people. Isn't that an amazing thought?
It was the very righteousness of God that was given to His
elect. How righteous am I? As righteous
as God. Because He gave me His perfect
righteousness. Only God could satisfy the justice
of God for His elect. Don't miss that. In John chapter
10, the Jews took up stones to kill him. And Christ said, many
good works I've shown you from my Father. He said, of which
of those works do you stone me? And they said, for a good work?
We don't stone you for a good work. But we stone you because
of your blasphemy. Because thou, being a man, makest
thyself God. But you know what? They had it
completely backwards. Christ being God made Himself
a man. Oh, I'm telling you friends,
I pray that God will enable you to fall at His feet as Thomas
did and say, my Lord and my God. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. But He's also man. That's the
second thing. For what the law could not do
and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh. God, in the person of Jesus Christ,
made himself of no reputation, and he took on the form of a
servant, and he was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. God did that. God did that. He became a man.
Child of God, it was God that died for you. It was God who
was crucified upon the cross. Only God could pay that price
of justice, the justice required of you. But yet we're told in
the fullness, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman. God became a man. A man is the
only one that could justify men and women. And he was made under
the law. Why? To redeem them that were
under the law. That's you and I. If you don't
hear anything else this morning, hear this. If you don't have
a man as a Savior, you have no gospel. You have no gospel. The law of God was given to man.
It must be by a man kept and fulfilled perfectly. If not,
then you and I have no righteousness. We have no right to stand before
God. If you don't have a perfect God
in human flesh, you have no gospel. Without that, there is no good
news. And we cannot, of ourselves, fulfill or keep the law in order
to be saved. Why? Well, we just read it. It
was weak through the flesh, and that being our flesh. It was
ineffective in the matter of saving us because of us and our
inability to keep the law. The law was never given for us
to keep. It was given to show us our inability of keeping it. and bringing us to Christ. The
law was our schoolmaster to teach us that we couldn't keep it and
to bring us to Christ. But God the Son, as a man, kept
the law for us. And Paul said, we don't frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ
is dead and vain. That's why we cease not to preach
Jesus Christ. Third thing. I hope this is of
some interest to you. It's the only way a man or woman
can be saved. Reconciled to God. Jesus Christ
is the only one who can save. The only one way to be saved.
He said, I am the way. I am the truth and I am the life.
And no man cometh to the Father but by me. And Jesus Christ is
a perfect man, redeemed us by Himself. Look over at Hebrews
chapter one with me, would you? Hebrews chapter one. This verse
says exactly what I'm trying to say. Hebrews chapter one, verse three. Who, speaking of Christ, being
the brightness of His, God's glory. And did you notice that
that word His here is italicized? Jesus Christ is the brightness
of glory. He's God. As a man, He is the
express image of His person. Do you see that? He's the express
image of His, God's person. And God became a man, but He's
still God. And He upholds all things by
the word of His power. You see, only God could accomplish
the salvation of sinners. Only God has the power to accomplish
redemption for His elect. Read on. When He had by Himself
purged our sins, sat down on the majesty, on high. Jesus Christ,
the God-man, is the only one, the only one, who could save
us from our sin. That's what I want you to see.
The Lord Jesus Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
we're told in Hebrews 9, verse 26. He's the only one who could
put away sin. His life of obedience is our
righteousness. His death on Calvary is our justification. His holiness in thought, word,
and deed is our sanctification. His resurrection, his ascension,
and his presence at the right hand of God is our acceptance
with God. In the matter of our salvation
and redemption, Christ did it all, and he did it all alone. And there's nothing, there's
nothing that we can do to contribute to the salvation of our souls.
No deed, no work, no decision, no profession of faith. How are
we accepted? One way, in the beloved, in the
Lord Jesus Christ. John said this, I love the simplicity
of this. John the Beloved said, he that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. Boy, I'm telling you, a young child can understand
that type of language. The difference between having
life and not having life is having God the Son. Isn't that so simple
but so profound? Oh, I'm telling you it's true.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not hath not
life. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for as there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. And that's why, that's
why we cease not to preach Jesus Christ. Fourth thing, Jesus Christ
is the one mediator. Last week I spoke to you on this
subject. There's only one means of approaching
God, just one. There's only one way to commune,
to converse with God. There's only one way to be reconciled
to God. Paul said in Romans chapter five,
he said, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life. Now I want to close with this
scripture found in 2 Corinthians chapter five. Would you turn
there with me? Many of you can quote this passage.
But I want to read it and to point out some things to you
as we read it. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. This is why we cease not to preach
Jesus Christ. Therefore, verse 17, therefore
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Gotta be in Christ. All my old
sins put away, and all things have become new. Verse 18, and
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself. We've
been alienated from God. We're strangers to God. We're
enemies of God. There's a great gulf, we talked
about this, a great gulf that separates us from God. How are
we gonna be reconciled? Tells us right here, by Jesus
Christ. He reconciled us to himself by
Jesus Christ, and he hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. The only way that anyone is gonna
be saved, reconciled to God, is through the preaching of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who he is? what He's done and
why He's done it. Oh, I'm telling you it's so.
Verse 19, to wit that God was in Christ. What was He in Christ
doing? He was reconciling the world
unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and He
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. He's reconciling
the world, His people in the world, out of every tongue, nation,
kingdom, and tribe unto Himself by the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in verse 20, now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though
God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be
ye reconciled to God. That's what I'm telling you this
morning. Won't you be reconciled to God?
Won't you come to Christ and be saved? For He, verse 21, hath
made Him, God, hath made Christ to be sin for us as a talisize,
but be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made what? The very righteousness of God
in Him. And that's why we cease not.
to preach Christ. You see, He's the one mediator
between us and God. In Him, old things are passed
away. Behold, all things have become new. When God looks at
me now, He sees no sin, because I don't have any. It's been put
on Christ, and He's put it away. It's in, by, and through Jesus
Christ that we're reconciled. It's the only way. God was in
Christ reconciling, drawing us unto Himself. It's the only way
you can be reconciled to God. God has made Christ to be sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's why we cease not to preach
Him. That's why He's our message. Well, preacher, you just blow
one note. That's it. One note. That's why He's our message.
That's why we declare Him to be God. That's why we declare
Him to be man. He's the God-man. That's why
we proclaim that. That's why we preach that He's
the only one who can save. That's why we insist that He's
the one and the only mediator to go between God and man. You'll never get to God but by
Him. We stand before Him. Let me ask you seriously, seriously
as I know how, what think ye of Christ? What
do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe what I
told you about Him? Or do you choose to remain indifferent?
It's a matter of life and death. And when we stand before Him,
if we stand without Him, There won't be any excuse. None. You've heard the truth concerning
Him. What do you think of Him? What do you think of Jesus Christ
and Him crucified? Does it mean anything to you? It's a matter of eternal life
and death, and that's why we cease not to preach Him and Him
alone. You know, there are many who
make fun of what we believe. There are many who say, ah, there's
nothing to that. Oh, I'm telling you, one day
they're going to stand before God. I wonder then what they'll think. Who's sufficient for these things?
Oh, may God enable us to truly trust and believe the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is salvation. And that's all
we preach here. If you don't like that message,
then I'm sorry, we don't have anything for you. But we have
the words of life, don't we? And Christ is salvation. Okay, Paul, would you dismiss
us in prayer, please? It's not a gracious thing to
just call a person you don't want to thank people, but another
opportunity to thank them for who they are.