Acts 13, and then you can turn over to
Romans 3. Acts 13, let's look at verse 39. This is text and
title. Acts 13, 39. I hope the chief
of sinners is here this morning. This will be good news by him,
and by him, by Christ, all that believe are justified from all
things. Justified from all things, in
which you could not be justified by a law of Moses. Now turn over to Romans chapter
three with me. You know that the truth is so
foreign today and so perverted. All talk, if you try to talk
about God as he is, holy, sovereign, just, judge, as the scriptures Men, that's, you know, that's
strange to the ears of men today. They only know of God in one
way. And if you start talking about
the utter sinfulness of man, helplessness, depravity, corruption
of man, like the Bible talks about it. People, they don't go for that.
It's just so, they don't hear that anymore. And so, this is the gospel of
sovereign mercy. You don't even hear that term
anymore. But the gospel, the gospel of
sovereign electing Mercy, sovereign grace, sovereign Christ. It's only good news to an old
sinner. But people don't hear that anymore. The Word of God is so plain.
The Word of God, the reason they're changing it today is because
it's too shocking. You know that? The Word of God
is too plain. It's too shocking. It's too offensive. It's called a sharp, two-edged
sword. I mean, that cuts you to the
heart. That's what it's designed to do. The Word of God is so plain,
and it describes mankind. Now listen, it describes mankind
in language that's absolutely an offense to the flesh. It's a language we don't use
every day. And it doesn't have anything—I
thought about this very carefully before I said it—but the Word
of God doesn't have anything good to say about man. Nothing good to say about man. Very plain language about man,
how he really is. Look at Romans 3. Look at this.
It says in verse 9, Paul, now he just described irreligious,
pagan, idolatrous, vile, like sodomites in chapter 1, didn't
he? I mean, the scum, the people
living in all sorts of wicked, filth, open. And then chapter
2 describes religious people who've never, you know, I mean,
they're just pure and according. And then here in chapter 3, Paul
says, Are we, you know, Paul said, I'm a Pharisee, a Jew,
and religious. He said, Are we better than those
wicked sodomites? And look at it, verse 9, Are
we better than they? No. And know why? We've before proved both Jew
and Gentiles are all under sin. That is, under the grips of,
the bondage of sin. Verse 10, as it is written, Psalm
14. He's going to go on to quote
Psalm 14. That there is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understand
Him. There is none that seeketh after God. Well, he's seeking
the Lord. No. There is none, verse 12. They're all gone out of the way.
They're together. Put them all together. They become
unprofitable. The word is filthy. The word
is stinking. That's what Psalm 14 describes
all mankind put together before God. I look at it yourself sometimes. Psalm 4, ultimately it will become
filthy. The word is stinking. Smell bad
to God. The whole human race stinks to
God. Is that plain language? Have you ever heard a preacher
in your life, other than here and Grace Pope, stand up on the
radio, on TV, or any one of these big revivals and said, everybody
stinks to God. That's what Scripture says about
mankind. I'm not talking about the man down the gutter. Am I
better than he? No, and no wise. They're all stinking. Well, look at verse 13. Now it
goes on. Verse 13 goes on to use Absolutely. Are you with me?
Read verse 13. It goes on to use Romans 3, 13. More descriptive language yet. It says, their throat. Who's
he talking about? Everybody. They're all together. Altogether, their throat is an
open grave. Why are you doing this, Paul?
Why are you preaching like this to these good Christian folks?
Because if they're good Christian folk, they don't need Christ. If they're good folk, they don't
need a righteousness. This is what Paul told them. Their throat's an open sepulcher.
Look at this. With their tongues they've used deceit. Poison of
asps is under their lips. whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness, feet swift to shed blood, destruction and misery."
Oh, boy. Way of P, no fear of God, verse
18. There's no fear of God. Verse
19, so he concludes, Now we know that what thing soever the law
or the word of God saith, it saith to them that are under
it, that every mountain may be stopped, and the whole world
is what? Guilty before God. Guilty. Of what? Of everything. Everything. If you have a margin, you have
a marginal reference, is it the little number beside guilty?
If you do, it says what? What does it say? There's a margin. Subject to the judgment of God. God loves you. No. Subject to
the judgment of God. It doesn't say God loves them
all. Anyway, not subject to the judgment
of God. Filthy, stinking. That's the
way the Scriptures describe man. None. Guilty, vile, wretched. Isaiah, you can go back to Isaiah
chapter 1. Deborah, Isaiah, the prophet,
started out his whole preaching with this. Y'all are like, everybody's
like wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Oh, this is Sunday morning. That's what God's Word says about
mankind. And God needs you, a putrefying
sore. And he goes on to say, listen
to him, Every man at his best state is altogether vanity. I mean, the best man to ever
live, God, even of no use, really, to God. Cut to knee. Even his righteousness. Now,
listen, I've never said this publicly from this pulpit, but
I'm going to say it, because this is the language
of Scripture. All our righteousnesses are as minstrels' rags." Does that shock you? That's what the Word of God says. That's Isaiah 614 in the John.
The man's pretty bad, isn't he? We
don't know what happened. We don't know what happened. Well, what can we do? What can we do? Isaiah 64 says, well, man's a vile creature. And it's no wonder God's going
to burn this planet up. I mean, the Scriptures talks
about God's going to purge it with fire, just burn it up. You remember that story of me
burning all those ants up? What a lovely little creature.
How could he do such a thing? Ants. Man, there's a trillion
of them. What's the Scriptures say about
man? What's he esteemed as? Grasshoppers. That's the language of Scripture,
is it not? Those who have read it, they
know. It's dust. That's right. Isaiah chapter 1, he says the
ox, he says the ox is more profitable. The ox knows his owner. The ass,
a dumb old donkey, knows his master's crib. They said, the
very people I created, supposed to be higher life form, they
don't even believe there is a creator. Refuse to acknowledge there is
a creator. Would rather believe that man
came from a worm. No, this is how ignorant they
are, their judgment is so backward. You see, man came from God, but
he turned into a worm. You see, that's how ignorant
man has become. His judgment so backward, I think
we came from a worm. No, we got it backward. We turned
into one. Turned into an ape. Monkey see, monkey do, you know.
The ox knows it does. Anyone. Now listen to me. Why are you saying all that?
Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the holy. This
is Proverbs 9, 10. The knowledge of the holy is
understanding. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. And somebody that God's going
to save, somebody that God purposes to save, this is what
He reveals to them. He reveals that he's so high
and holy and righteous and just that he can't have anything to
do with it. There's nothing on this earth
that he needs. Nobody. Man is best at. And he's
so high and holy and righteous that even man's best deeds that
he performed are just like discarded old rags. That's what every single person
God is going to say, understand. Not that God needs us, no. They
become poor, wretched, miserable, blind, naked, needy sinners. Sinners, Job. Sinners. Not just
got some mistakes. Sinners. Deserving the wrath
and the judgment of God. Sinners. Deserving of hell. Deserving
to be wiped out. Deserving to be cast out of God's
sight. Sinners. the way the scripture
describes sinners, stinking maggots. All right? But God is merciful. God is so merciful. What's he
need with worms? What's he need? Nothing but some
worms And he doesn't have to show mercy. No, he doesn't have
to show mercy. But God's going to show his mercy.
Why? To the praise of his glory. This is part of his glorious
character. You see, you mean that God just
saved people just to show off? Yep. He is the supreme ego. He has
it right there. He's the only one. And He's going to display His
glorious character, His justice, His holiness, His sovereignty. Yes, He's going to display it
in the death of the wicked, in the destruction of all flesh.
This planet is going to display His holiness and His justice
and His righteous indignation against sin. love for righteousness
and his hatred toward Eve. He's going to wipe it out and
he's going to get the glory to this part of his character. But
he's merciful. He's going to show mercy. Now,
mercy means, damn mercy means not getting what you deserve.
Mercy is always sovereign. Mercy is, you know, if you get
it, it was sovereignly shown to you. Or it wouldn't be mercy.
You understand? If you deserve mercy, then it's
not mercy. If I ought to show mercy to you,
it's not mercy. Does that make sense? Grace is
always sovereign. It's a gift. It's either a sovereign
gift or you earned it. You did something to make me
give it to you. You see, the grace, it works. It's not known. in display of
His sovereign mercy and grace, chose to save some worms. He's going to be merciful, and
Romans 9 calls them vessels of mercy, vessels of mercy. They're full of sin, sinful,
and He empties them. How? Well, more on that later. But the first thing, like I said,
the first thing he teaches, all these vessels of mercy he purposed
to save, he chose to save, is the fear of the Lord, the knowledge
of the Holy, all right? And the second thing he teaches
us, we're all as unclean thing, an unclean thing. We say I'm
sinful, unworthy, guilty, poor, wretched, needy. This is the
language of all of God's people. This is the language of David,
a man after God's own heart. Of Jacob and all the sons of
Jacob. When you ask them about themselves,
ask every single person God saved, what do you think about yourself?
Sam, what do you think about yourself? No good. That's good. I've got some good
news for you. I've got some good news
for you. Now, look over at 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6. Turn over
there quickly. Now, listen, not everybody in
here, as a matter of fact, probably few
in here actually lived in open immorality, open wickedness,
drunkenness and poor mongering and filthy and vile perversions. Probably very few of you. But to be a sinner, you don't
have to literally wallow in the gutter. But you'll feel like you have. You'll know it. You'll see the
gutter in your own heart. The blackness in your own heart.
You don't have to wallow in the gutter for the filth to come out. You see, you'll feel the seeds
of hell in your own heart. And the only reason, listen now,
the only reason that the purest woman in here has not sold her
body is because God Almighty has restrained her. Sovereign restraining right.
That's right. But you know, some have. Some
have actually lived and built. Look at this. 1 Corinthians 6.
Verse nine, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
or idolaters, or adulterers, or effeminate abusers themselves
of mankind, as homosexuals, or thieves, nor covetous, or drunkards,
or revilers, or extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of
God. They're not going to be there. These people that talk
about, well, that's the way I am. That's the way God created me.
I'm going to stay like this, and yet God loves me anyway.
No, sir. First Corinthians six, verse
nine and ten says, God's going to damn them all. He's going
to burn them up. Yes, He is. But... Verse 11, "...such were some
of them." But God is rich in mercy. They all ought to be burned
up, shouldn't they? Oh, you filthy, vile, wretched,
look at them, lay them, burn them up! I'm going to, but not
all of them. I'm going to show the riches
of my mercy. See a lot? Well, it's very. Ah, such were some
of you, but you're washed. Look at this. You're washed,
verse 11. You're sanctified. You're justified. in the name of the Lord Jesus.
It doesn't say, because you did this, because you did that, because
you cleaned yourself up, because you turned over new leaves. It
doesn't say that, does it? It says you were washed. Somebody
washed you. Not because you chose him. No,
you sanctified. Somebody chose you. Not because
you decided to let God in you. No, you were justified. Somebody
else did it for you. You weren't. salvations of the Lord. All in the name of Jesus Christ.
Now, back to the text, Acts 13. All right? So what I'm trying
to say is, whether you actually live in open wickedness or committal
of wickedness or not, Every one of God's people know how sinful
they are, and they know they're no good. Right? You know, if anything, now listen
to me, and grace preachers have made this statement for years,
that the thing, the biggest obstacle in somebody coming to Christ
is not their sins. No, Christ never turned away
one, I mean the vilest of the vile. I mean seven devils. I mean scumbags. But it's righteous. It's religious. They wouldn't come to him. Don't
need him. If my sister were here today, she
would tell you, she grew up a model child. a just nothing but a joy
and a pleasure to her parents and never at least got caught
doing anything and just lived, you know, always in church. It was a real obstacle. She's going to have to know she's
a sinner. She never wallowed in open sin.
like her prodigal brother. But she, she, God finally showed
her, opened her heart and showed her self-righteous sin. That the propensity is there.
That sin is not just committing something, it's thinking it.
Huh? You didn't have to act like a,
you've thought it though, haven't you? Huh? Christ said it. Christ opened the law in Matthew
5, 6, and 7, and He said, You've heard it said of them, Thou shalt
not kill. He said, I say unto you, if you've
ever looked at somebody in anger, you're killed. Have you ever
really, literally thought about just beating the tar out of somebody?
Have you? Come on now. Come on now. What
about the one sitting beside you? Huh? Come on now. We laugh because
we know it's so. Well, if God unleashed us, you
know, why do people divorce and why do people not get along?
For the life of me, I don't understand why people stay together except the grace of God. You take a male and a female. I mean, we're talking about north
and south. We're talking about opposite ends of the pole. Like
one fellow said, females ain't hearty like other people at all. And you stick them together 24
hours a day. Mary, it's a miracle of God's
grace that they stay together 10 years, 20 years, 30 years,
40 years for life. It's going to take grace, sovereign,
restraining, constraining, Grace is going to take Christ and be
informed in them until they both quit being like a male and a
female and start being like Christ. Until they both are being conformed
to the image of Christ. Finally, I don't understand
why people separate. That's the reason I tell you young girls
and young men, It'll be a miracle. If you marry an unbeliever, it'll
be a miracle you stay together. It'll be a miracle. And you may
wish you hadn't done it. Ah, boy. Well, such were some
of you. And all of this, all people,
all that God intends and purposes to save, they know and they feel
their sinfulness. They're guilty and ashamed of
it. That's a Holy Spirit conviction. And that's what makes the gospel
good news, you see. It's good news. Joe, it's not news if you cease
to be in a center, is it? Let me ask you all something.
Do you all read last week's paper? Anybody here get out last week's
paper and read it? You going to read it today? What
about tomorrow? That's old news. That's not news
at all. It's old. It's the past. Sinners need to hear the same
thing every time. The gospel is called good news. Why? Because we're going to remain
sinners until the day we die. Sinners. Ask David. David, surely you're over this
thing now. David, surely you've been progressively
sanctified, haven't you, David? Aren't you leaving the victorious
life, David? You're 51 years old." My loins are filled with a loathsome
disease, isn't it? My sin is over my head. God's going to be just when He's
been clear when He judges me. Now, look at this. Here's good
news. In our text, Acts 13 says this,
verse 32, We declare unto you glad tidings. Everything I've
said thus far has just been a bleak picture, isn't it? Bad. Glad tidings. And like I said,
it's only good news to a sinner, to bad people. That's why people
aren't filling this building up. That's why people don't need
the gospel of God's sovereign mercy and grace. They reject
it because they're not sinners. Nobody's a sinner anymore. Preachers
aren't preaching about sin. People aren't sinners. Preachers
aren't preaching a holy and righteous and just God who by no means
cleared the guilty in judgment passing upon all flesh. No. God's
love. And so people aren't in trouble.
They aren't sinners. And you're hearing about a God that will by no means fail to
give you. Now the good news is, verse 38, Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, Jesus
the Christ, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin. The
forgiveness of sin. The forgiveness of sin. Total, complete, putting away,
pardoning, remembering no more of it all. Look at verse 39,
and by Him, now get this now, if you don't get any words, get
this right here, two words, by Him, by Him I say, all that believe are justified from all things. You know why the gospel doesn't
mean it's not dear to you every time you hear it? You're not feeling your sin. You're not feeling your sin.
I guarantee you if a person came in here right now, say a woman
who lived, came in right now and God opened her heart and
revealed full free, complete. If a blind man perceives sight,
you will hear him shout, O son of David, By him, all that believe are
justified from all things. What in your past bothers you? What is it in your past? Anything
in your past? All things are justified. Back in Romans 3, and I'll quit
with this. Romans 3, turn back there very
quickly, okay? Romans 3, it's only been 30 minutes. By Him, all that believe are
justified. What does justified mean? It
means to be declared holy, righteous, declared righteous, innocent
of any wrongdoing, nothing on your record, no charge at all. I don't know if anybody in here
has ever been guilty and stood in a court of law, but it's the
worst feeling. You'll never know a feeling like
that. You'll never know a feeling like that. You get a little inkling
of it when you see that blue light in your mirror. Everybody
in here has seen that. Come on. Everybody in here has
seen that blue light or red light in your mirror. What goes through
your mind? Caught. Guilty. Oh. It's a sinking thing. Have you
ever felt that sink? Oh. And here's a glorious picture.
There's times when I go by the law and he's sitting there and
I feel that feeling. And I might not even be speaking.
Oh, but there's no condemnation. If you've ever stood, I tell
you, if you ever really stood in a court of law guilty, I mean
guilty, and the judge could absolutely throw the book at you and lock
you up and throw away the case. and to hear him say, no charges. You'll feel joy like you've never
felt before. You will not walk out of that
place. You will fly. That's what I'm saying. The gospel
is only good news to sinners. All that believe are justified
from your past is wiped out. No charge whatsoever. Clean. Clear. Gone. Remember it no more. Let's look
forward. It can't be found. Because God's not go hunting,
is he, John? Justified. Declared innocent. Wait a minute here. How could
he do that? Look here at Romans 3. Because
all have sinned. Verse 23, it comes short. Yeah,
but being justified freely. Freely. He just did it. How can
he do that? Because he's God, that's how.
He did it freely. But surely I've got to do something.
No, he can't do anything. But God can. He's the judge.
You know that the... Is Jim Gilmore our judge? Our governor? Is that his name? Well, you Virginians, Jim Gilmore,
isn't it? Somebody. Jim Gilmore can, there
can be a criminal on death row and he can call them and say,
turn him loose. You know that? Why? He's the good guy. Bill
Clinton. can call anywhere in town and
say anything you want. Turn him loose. But he's guilty. This is the president. I said
turn him loose. How can he do that? He's God. Well, but wait a minute now.
He did it by, he did it through the redemption that's in Christ.
Now, we don't go, we go scot-free. Somebody else did it. You know where that story came
from. There's a story brother Scott brother Walter Gruber told
this story. This is true. True story. Over in Scotland years ago there
was a mayor of a town. A mayor and a judge and a jury
and everything. And he was known for his justice
and his strictness to the law and fair but just anyway. He had a son who committed some
horrible crime. People loved the judge so much.
They loved him and esteemed him so highly that they caught his
son doing it and they wanted to turn him free and they did.
They turned him loose. The local constable and all that
turned the son loose. Early the next morning, the whole
town was awakened by a bell ringing, a bell ringing. And they all went out to the
center of town, and there stood the judge, the mayor, up on the
gallows, ringing the bell, his son standing beside him with
a rope around his neck. And he said that you might know
that I'm a just judge, and nobody goes free but guilty, not even
my son. Honest son. It's truth. This is truer still. Why did Jesus Christ come and
die like he died? Why was his beard ripped out?
Why was his head beaten to a bloody blue pulp? Because that's what God thinks
of us. I know what God thinks of sin.
I've tried to describe it in all this language of Scripture.
There's one thing that adequately describes it, the cross. That's what God thinks of sin.
And Barbara, we deserve to hang naked in front of the universe
and scoff at and brutally murdered. Is that too rough? That's why
Jesus Christ did that. That's why he did that. He was made sin for us. Scripture talks about him being
made sin, God putting on him the iniquity
of us all. All the iniquity. all the iniquities of John Davis,
that hellion, placed on trial. Is there anything? You know,
we love to see movies. I love to see movies where the
bad guys are brought to justice. That's the reason I love the
good, clean, violent movies, like the old westerns, like Clint
Eastwood. Now, those were good, clean violence.
The bad guys got killed. Good guys won. Isn't that right? Good, clean violence. You knew
the good guys were going to get in the end. Bad guys were all
going to get... Now listen, is there anything
more repulsive, more reviling to you to think of than an innocent
person being charged and being punished? That's awful. It makes your blood boil, doesn't
it? An innocent victim and a guilty
man going scot-free. Lord, don't let... Get him! Get
him! He's free. Oh, no, you can't
do that. Get him! Now he's free. That's exactly what the gospel
says. Well, I've got to quit. here in Romans 3 says in verse
25. All right. This is what the Scriptures
describes that bloody scene whom God set forth verse 25 God hung
on a tree to be a propitiation people that we get the word pitch
par. God covered these old sinful
souls with the very blood of his own son. That's exactly what
he did. through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins of them
that are past, sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
Christ's righteousness, all that he did, the good he did, was
transferred to us and our sins to him, that he might be just. God punished me. Scripture says
God will by no means clear the guilty. God can't justify. A guilty man, he just can't do
it and be God. He's a fair judge. He cannot
let a guilty sinner go. He can't do it. He'll hang him
if he got to, to be just. Well, this is how he did it.
He killed his son instead. Instead of, he said, just, and
yet justified. That's the reason God has to
let me go pray. I was crucified at the cross.
That's the reason nobody that Christ died for can go to hell,
can't do it. God justifies it. Who shall lay
anything to charge if God's a man? Huh? God justifies it. God justifies it. And you know all the way through
the scriptures, he gives illustrations. Listen to this,
and you'll get a blessing, okay? I'm almost finished. All the
way through the scriptures, he gives illustrations of how they
justify from all things. All things. I'm talking about
past, present. What about the present and the
future? We mean, what about if? We mean if. No, let me give you a little. No, I'd say eight people on the whole
planet. Let's say God destroyed this
whole planet right now and save me, Mindy, Anna, Joe, Nancy,
and Jerry. Thank you. One more. So he saved us. All right. Destroyed the whole
planet. And we deserve it, Stan. We deserve it, too. Why, Stan
Sherry, you're even better than who? Ed and Jeanette? No. All right. So Stan, right after
we were saved, Stan went out and got violently drunk. And this is what no one did.
And was laying around naked. Just about. How can he be a. He's capable of doing everything
in. Law. You never know a lot from
the rest of the people inside. You never know. You want to stay
there, didn't you? You've never known a lot of the
same man. His sons, son-in-laws, after
he, you know, conviction came, that judgment was coming, Lot
said, hey, we got to get out of here. God's going to, they
laughed at him. Well, we've never heard this before, Lot. Are you
kidding? Well, you deserve to die like
we do, Dan. God said, just a lot. He was
just a lot. Jacob. And your son's a Jacob. But Phibosheth. Peter. What did Judas do worse
than Peter? Judas betrayed the Lord, didn't
he? Huh? So did Peter. Three times,
Barbara. He said, I don't know him. Third
time, he cussed in front of a little girl. Absolutely, because I don't
even know him. I don't know him. Justify. Go tell Peter. justified
from all things." Mary Magdalene. Oh, isn't that justified? And
maybe the greatest example of all is hanging on that cross
beside him. He was a thief and a murderer. And in his dying breath, Jesus
Christ Just about. All things. All things. How? Why? Well, the thief turned
over a new leaf. He couldn't turn over nothing.
He couldn't do nothing. He's hanging there. He's a dead man. Why? Because the Lord looked at him
and revealed who he was and he believed. That was a gift. He said, Lord, would you? Oh,
all he could think to say was, remember me in mercy and grace. Justify, don't apologize. That's good news to say. I know
one fellow in heaven who's singing at the top of his lungs. Yeah,
justify that old blessed thought. They'll cause people to live
like the devil. They live like that anyway. You see? They live more like the devil
than they want to anyway. They feel it too much anyway. You give people an excuse. No,
you won't. No, you won't. You'll make them
praise God. That's what you'll do. You'll
make them praise God. The only thing it will. All right. It was for him, Joe.