OK, now open your Bibles to Acts
chapter 8. Continue our study through the
book of Acts. I have been thoroughly enjoying,
personally enjoying this study through the book of Acts. I,
like you, I have read through this book a number of times,
but yet this careful verse-by-verse study sure has rendered some gold nuggets, hasn't
it? And we haven't really stopped
and gleaned through every verse, but we've hit the high spots,
I hope. Chapter eight. We saw in verse
four. Last week, we were looking how
the Lord sovereignly scattered the church at Jerusalem, which
is a very large congregation of believers, and he scattered
it through persecution, beginning with Stephen. And it was a terrible,
it was a tough time. It was a trial, trouble, troublesome
time. When they went to bury Stephen,
it says great lamentation was made over him. and great fear
and distress and all was running through the church, and they
were scattered abroad. But through that scattering,
God, who sovereignly ordained that, saw to it that the preaching
of the gospel would go forth throughout the land. Verse 4
says, They that were scattered abroad went everywhere, preaching
the word. And Paul, later on in His letter
to the Romans said, have they not heard? Yeah, barely. Their
sound, the sound of the word has gone throughout the world
now, throughout the world. We were rejoicing at the end
of last week's message, how the Lord used Paul to scatter the
church, and then he said, now go find them. Later on, he sent
him out to find them. and preach to them, and gather
them back in. All right, it says they preached
the word. Well, what did they preach? Just the Bible? That's what people say, don't
they? What do you all believe down there? Well, we preach the
Bible. Well, the word that they preached, the message, was a
who. It's not a what, but it was a
who, wasn't it? It's a who, it's a person. Look
at verse five. This is where we're Then Philip went down to
the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. He preached
Christ. He went down to Samaria and preached
Christ. The scripture says that, well,
Christ himself was the one that said it. They are they. Talking
about the scriptures? When you're talking to those
Pharisees, you remember he said, you search the scriptures and
in them you think you have, you know, how to live. It's a rule
book of life, just a good, like one man wrote in our local paper
recently, the Old Testament has great literary value. I mean,
this is a, I think it's a Methodist maybe, that figures, doesn't
it? A Methodist pastor. But all he'd say about the Old
Testament was it had great literary value and beautiful language
and all. But Christ said they, speaking
of the Old Testament, are they which testify of me, of him,
of Christ, the scripture. From Genesis to Malachi, nothing
but pictures and stories and types and emblems and symbols
of Jesus Christ, the coming Christ, the coming King. Our Lord said
about Abraham, he's the father of the faithful, he's the first
great patriarch, He said, Abraham saw my day. Abraham looked forward
to the coming Christ. He said, Moses, the one who the
Jews and the forefathers so-called looked up to so mightily, Moses
wrote of me, Christ said. Moses wrote about me, even in
the law, even in the ordinances, the commandments. To him, the
scriptures say, to him, to Christ, give all the prophets witness. All the prophets. Do you remember
on the road to Emmaus, how Christ opened the scriptures to him?
It says, beginning at the books of Moses and the prophets and
the Psalms, he expounded unto them all the things concerning
himself. That's the whole Old Testament, isn't it? All the
prophets give witness to him, major to minor. Somebody said,
what's a minor prophet? Brother Terry said, what's a
minor prophet? What they mean by that is it's
a smaller book, much smaller than the larger ones like Isaiah
and Jeremiah. At any rate, all the prophets
give witness to Christ, so that's the whole Old Testament, and
just like the prophets So did the apostles, evangelists, pastors,
teachers, deacons, and all the disciples of Christ give witness
to the Lord Jesus Christ. The messengers of Christ go about
preaching the message of Christ. That sounds simple, doesn't it? The messengers of Christ, their
message is Christ. or else they're not a messenger
of Christ. That sounds real simple and even
children understand that. What does it mean to be a messenger
of Christ is to preach the message of Christ. Let's look through
that. Let's look through browse through some of the places in
the scripture acts five. We look just through the acts
how they preached wherever they went. The subject that they preach
that is. Look at acts five look verse
We saw this, remember, when Peter and the boys had been whipped
for preaching in that name, and they were warned not to preach
that name again, and what did they end up doing? Just as soon
as they got out of there, they went out preaching that name. Jesus Christ. Look at Acts eight,
we were just there, Acts chapter eight. Philip, again, down in
verse thirty-five, preaching to that eunuch. You remember,
the Lord sent him out in the desert to preach to one man in
a chariot. What was his message? He had
one opportunity to preach to this one man. He may have never
seen him again after that. What did he preach? Verse thirty-five,
Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture, Isaiah
fifty-three, and preached unto him Jesus, Jesus Christ, the
Savior. Acts nine, verse twenty. Acts
chapter nine, verse twenty. And it says that Saul was with
the disciples, verse nineteen. This is when Saul began his first
preaching. The Lord first called Saul. Changes
named Paul. Verse 19 says Saul was certain
days with the disciples which were at Damascus and his first
message. All right, this is an important message in it. A man's
first message he preaches. It's an important message. What's
he going to preach? Verse 20. And right away he preached
Christ immediately. That was his first message. Look
at verse 22. And Saul increased in strength. You will if you study and preach
Christ, won't you? You'll increase spiritually.
And he confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that
this is very Christ. Look at Acts 11. Acts 11, verses
19 and 20. Remember it said they were scattered
abroad whenever they were preaching the word? Well, here they are
preaching. Verse 19. They which were scattered abroad upon the
persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice
and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the
Jews only. And some of them were men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake
unto the Grecians, preaching," what? The Lord Jesus. I like this one, Acts 17. I love
this one. This is tremendous. This tells
it all right here. Acts 17, verses 2 and 3. Acts 17, verse 2. And Paul, as
his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days
reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. This is at Thessalonica,
which was to be a A very choice, very dear place to Paul in Paul's
heart. He reasoned with them out of
the Scriptures, opening alleging that Christ must needs have suffered
and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach
unto you is Christ. He preached Christ as his manner
was. Look at Acts 18, Acts 18 verse
5. Acts eighteen. Verse five and
when Silas and Timothy Timothy were come from Macedonia Paul
was pressed. That is he had something pressing
on his mind his heart in the spirit and testified to the Jews
that Jesus was Christ. Look down at verse twenty eight.
He mightily convinced the Jews and that, and that publicly,
showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. Keep going. Acts 20. Acts 20, verses 20 and 21. Acts 20, and this is Paul's parting
words to the church at Ephesus. All right, this is his last message
to this people. You heard his first one. Now,
here's his last one to these people. What is it? Acts 20,
verse 20 and 21. Now, he said, I've kept back
nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and
taught you publicly from house to house, testifying both to
the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That's it in sum and substance
of the message. Acts 28. Acts 28. And we'll quit, we have to, it's
the last chapter. Acts 28, look at verses 23 and
24. All right, Paul was in prison
now and they gave him a little bit of leeway to see a lot of
people and all, and so people would come to visit him in jail,
look at verse 23. And when they had appointed him
a day, there came many to him into his lodging. to whom he
expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning
Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets,
from morning till evening." Some believe the things were spoken,
some believe not. Now, here's his very last message
recorded, verses 30 and 31, the very last testimony concerning
his preaching. Verses 30 and 31, Paul dwelt
two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that
came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching
those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence."
So Paul's first message, Paul's last message, and every message
in between was nothing but Christ and him crucified. So Christ
is the theme of the Scriptures. He's the theme of All preaching,
true preaching, he's the theme of our song, both now and forever. Jesus Christ and him crucified. And recalling those verses in
chapter 17, where it said, as his manner was, he preached Christ. That was
just the way with him. And this can be said of all true
preachers of the gospel. That's just that's the way that's
the as their manner is they'll preach Christ. You may not know
where they're going to preach from. But you know what they're
going to preach on right. Brother Maurice said that one
time he called my father. He was scheduled to preach in
a Bible conference up there and and. He was calling. My father was. appointing texts
of Scripture. And Brother Maurice said, I'm
calling to find out what my verse of Scriptures are. He says, I
know what the subject is. Don't need to ask that. Just
need to know what text you want me to preach from. Now, that
man preaches Christ. That man knows Christ. Well,
that's the way it is. That's the manner of true gospel
preachers are they somehow or another eventually what they're
preaching will culminate in the exaltation and declaration of
Jesus Christ and him crucified. Look over at first Corinthians
two first Corinthians chapter two. Paul said this he summed
up his ministry first Corinthians two. He said here in verse one and
brethren He said when I came to you. He said I came not with
excellency of speech. He could have another word great. Eloquence of speech. Talent he
said I didn't come with excellency of speech. Not excellent oratorical ability
or talents. so that people would go away
from there talking about the excellent sermon or the excellent
preacher, right? That's what they'll do, won't
they? They'll go away being impressed with the preacher and what an
excellent message he preached. But he, Paul, talked about the
excellencies of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. He
said, that's the excellency I want you to be enamored with. I've
given this illustration before. I forget his name. I bet you
Ed could recall the man's name. He was a famous preacher back
in London, England at the same time Charles Spurgeon was preaching.
This man was preaching and he was, I believe he was a grace
preacher. But there, like I said before, there's preaching and
then there's preaching. But this couple went to hear
this man one Sunday morning, hear this famous man who was
well known for his, he just had a pulpit presence about him,
he could preach with thundering power, or at least his voice
wise in his presence. And he preached the message that
morning and those two, that couple went away from there saying,
what a sermon. What a sermon. And that night
They made their way over to Metropolitan Tabernacle where Charles Spurgeon
was preaching and they heard that message that night and they
came away and the husband looked at the wife and he said, what
a Savior. What a Savior. There's the difference
between preaching Christ and preaching an excellent message,
right? Or like that, I heard the story, I think it may have
been Spurgeon that told this, he told the story of of an actor,
an English actor, stage actor, who stood before a crowd of people
and quoted Psalm 23, using all of his voice inflections and
all of his talent and all to quote Psalm 23, the Lord is my
shepherd. And it was impressive. It was
impressive. And then an old country preacher
got up. and quoted Psalm twenty three. And the difference between the
two somebody said was the first man he knew the song. He knew
the song. And the second man you know I'm
going to say he knew the Savior. There's the difference. There's
the difference. All right Paul said I didn't
come with excellency of speech like that but I did come with
some excellent knowledge the excellencies of Christ My Lord
declaring a wisdom you see that excellency of speech or wisdom
wisdom. He said he didn't come with wisdom.
Not the wisdom of the world anyway. Not the wisdom that the world
calls wisdom in intellectual discourses scientific studies
and so forth which may have a place and I admit I'm impressed by
those sometimes it may have a place at some point in time be very
interesting. but not in the same preaching. Not when the souls
of men and women are at stake, which is every time you stand
before them. When the souls of men and women are at stakes,
what I told the preachers down in North Carolina, I said, every
time you stand before people, it may be your last message.
Woe, necessity is laid upon you. Woe is unto you if you preach
not the gospel. Somebody can go out of there
and meet God, and they better be prepared to meet Him. Not
just knowing the difference between creation and evolution. You know
when the children of Israel were bitten by that snake in the wilderness?
You remember that story? You all remember that story?
Moses? The children of Israel were bitten
by a snake. You remember Moses made a brazen
serpent just like the snake that had bitten the people? There's
snakes throughout the camp that had bitten the people and they
were all dying. And Moses made a brazen serpent, a brass snake
to look like the one that had bitten them, and hung it on a
pole and lifted it up for all to see. And everybody that looked
at that brass snake lived. They were healed. They were cured.
And this is what Christ said as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. And whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but
have eternal life. God so loved the world. like that he slew
his son made in the likeness of sinful flesh and beat the
bitten man. His son was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh made into a man and hung on a pole and everybody
looked by faith to him as their substitute who died on that cross
will live. Well Moses when the children
were bitten by that those snakes and dying Moses didn't give a
lengthy and profound discourse on the origin and different types
and species of serpent. Did he? Huh? Did he do a study
on the finer arts of, let's see if I can get it right, I looked
it up in the dictionary, brachiary? That's working in brass. You
didn't know that, did you? Brachiary, he didn't do a study
of the finer arts of brachiary or sculpting or woodworking,
the pole, you know? No, the people were dying and
he wanted to point them as quickly as possible to the only cure. And in doing so, he did what?
He didn't use great profundity of speech or excellency of speech.
He used great plainness of speech. What did he say? Look, look,
just as quick as you can, look. And he didn't even give a discourse
on faith, did he? Somebody could say, what do you
mean, look? What does it mean? Just look, and you'll find out. Right, he didn't give a discourse
on faith, but he just lifted up the cure and told them to
look. And so Paul, a faithful preacher,
faithful to God's glory, faithful to men's soul, he lifted up Christ
and pointed men and women to Christ. He said, I'm determined,
verse 2, I'm determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. Christ of the cross. Now Paul,
when he said this, He said, I'm determined not to know anything
among you. Paul studied at the feet of the greatest scholar
of his day. He was an intelligent man. Paul was a theologian. You can see that from his writings,
can't you? He was a theologian. Even Peter
said, I don't fully understand what Paul was writing about half
the time. Hard things to be understood.
Paul wasn't limited in his knowledge to only the subject of the crucifixion
of Christ. He knew a lot of things, but
when it came to the matter of man's salvation, he said he wasn't
going to entertain for a moment any other subject but Jesus Christ
and him crucified, because it all hinges there. It all hinges
at the cross. The cross is the center point
of all of history, the center of the hub of history, the cross
rather, him who hung there. Not the piece of wood, but the
Christ of the cross is the center of history. And he said later
on, Paul said later on, this is my chief glory, my chief glory,
the cross, the Christ of the cross. And really, if you take
any subject, no matter what it may be, science, history, astronomy,
Mathematics and I started to dwell on each one of these subjects
and give you a little bit of how Christ is. But I'll just
sum it up by saying this. If you take any subject, you
have to speak it in relation to Christ. Because the scripture
says in him are hid all the treasures of what? Wisdom and knowledge. That means every subject you
can entertain every every study you Pursue Christ. He's behind it, Christ is in
it somewhere. Spurgeon's, you know what Spurgeon's
favorite verse of scripture was? One of them. Romans 11, 36. For
of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be
glory forever. Amen. He said there's a what
a body of divinity is in that verse of scripture. Of him, through
him, And to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Amen. That's a sermon in itself.
So the prophet, now turn back to Acts 8. And the prophets and
apostles, and here in Acts chapter 8, even the Dickens got in on
it. Even the Dickens, when they had
an opportunity to speak, what did they speak? What did they
preach? Well, the pastor's not around, so I'm going to tell
them how much I know. I'm going to show them how I know the finer
points of soteriology, eschatology, superlapsarianism, or infralapsarianism. I'm going to show them. But look
at what Philip the deacon did. It says in chapter eight, we've
already read it, it says Philip, he got an opportunity to speak
and it says he preached Christ. He learned well, didn't He learned
well. Preach Christ. He preached his
person, his work. When you preach Christ, what
do you do? What does it mean to preach Christ? And I want
to hurry. I don't want to take too long.
Well, when you preach Christ, it means you preach his person
and his work. His person and his work. Who
is it? He is God. And if you fail to
make it absolutely clear that Jesus Christ is very God of very
God. You haven't preached Christ right,
because only God can say. Not just the Son of God, mind
you. That's what the Mormons and the so-called Jehovah Witnesses
and others say, that He's just the Son of God. Not very God,
because, and then they say that we're sons of God too, so that
puts us on equal par with Christ, doesn't it? No. He is God. Very God, a very God. The Pharisees
said it one time, didn't they? Said, who can forgive sins but
God? When Christ said, go thy way, thy sins be forgiven. They
said nobody can forgive sins but God. That's exactly right. And unless Christ is God, he
can't forgive anybody. He can't save anybody. He's just
a man like you and I are, unless he was God. He's God and he's
man. You've got to preach his manhood,
too. Because we have not a high priest who cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmity, but was touched in all points
like as we are. Yet, there's a difference between
this man. He had no sin. He had no sin. That makes him the perfect substitute
for men, doesn't it? Now, just any man, the only man
approved of God, accepted by God, and we're accepted by virtue
of his righteousness He's holy, he's just, he's sovereign, he's
love, he's mercy, he's grace, he's character, he's attribute.
You've got to preach his work, his teachings, his doctrine,
his work. He is the redeemer, the only substitute, mediator,
intercessor, savior. And what did he do? Came down
to set an example? Is that all he did? Came down to show us the way?
No, he came down to be the way. Show us how to live. He came
down to give life. He's the maker, creator, sustainer
of life, and he came down to give it to those who had died
in sin, trespasses in sin. And what he did, no less, was
accomplish. I like that word. Accomplish,
finish, accomplish a full, free, unconditional, final salvation. He got the job done. He saved
his people. That's the reason the angel said,
call him Jesus. That's his name, Savior. He'll
get the job done. And call him Christ, the representative
of God's people, because that's what he did. Substitute. Call
him Lord, because he now reigns and rules. Call him all three,
Lord Jesus Christ. All right. He preaches personally
in his work. You can't just stand up and say, well, Jesus this,
Jesus that. You can't just stand up and say, well, Jesus loves
you. We preach Jesus. You've got to
tell me what, tell me what, who Jesus Christ is and what he did,
right? All right, Philip, verse six,
it says, and the people with one accord gave heed unto those
things which Philip spake. People with one accord gave heed. under the things Philip spake,
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." What did everyone we speak to
or preach to? What did everybody with one accord? Everybody. This seems to indicate
that everybody that heard him believed. Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't that be fantastic? You
have a hard time finding anybody, don't you? Don't you? How many
people have you talked to about the Hard to find any interest
in it. Hard to find. And you can preach
the best message they've ever heard. I mean, even you women
who prophesy or preach to people out in the streets and in the
workplace and all, you can preach later on what you know to be
about the clearest gospel message that person could ever hear.
I've heard some of it. And they just don't believe. They just won't believe. Well,
it says here that everyone, with one accord, gave heed to the
things which were spoken by Philip. And would that everyone were
doers of the word and not hearers only. Or here, would that everybody
would hear with the ear of faith. It says here, look at this, this
is significant. It says they gave heed unto the
things which Philip spake, hearing. and C. You notice the place these
two things were given? Hearing and then seeing the miracles. Hearing and seeing. Hearing and
seeing the miracles, which he did. Hearing comes first. Hearing
comes first. Faith cometh by hearing, not
by seeing miracles. Right? Faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. We walk by faith, not by what? Sight. We walk by faith. Let me give you an illustration
of that. When a child is born, well, a
child conscious of or cognizant of
You know what the first thing is? I guarantee you. What? The first thing that that child... You see, that child is in somebody's
belly, right? What is the first thing that
child is going to be aware of? It's mother's voice. Right? Every time that mother says something,
they may not understand, but they hear it. They hear that
voice. And then when they come out of the womb, they don't see. They don't see. You know children
are virtually blind when they come out of the womb? They sure
are. They've got a kind of a scale over there. They're virtually
blind. They don't see anything. That's the reason their eyes,
you can't see anything but pupils, you know, big pupils. They don't
see anything. But they hear just fine. When that little baby girl
of mine was born, She was screaming and crying when she came out
of that womb. She wanted to go back, you know,
out in those harsh lights, you know. And when she came out of that womb
and I held her in my arms, I started talking to her. It's okay. She
heard that voice before. I hate to admit this, but I used
to speak to her. I used to speak to her mother's
belly. Don't you would you edit that tape Terry when you come
to it. I do. You didn't do that did you Rick?
No, real men don't do that. But I did. You reckon she could
hear me? Why, sure she could. You may
think it's a bunch of fools, but really they can hear. inside
that womb. They hear the parent's voice,
the illustration I'm trying to give, is the first thing they
hear is that voice, and when they come out, even though they
don't see so clearly, that voice is what gets their attention.
Not their sight, not their sight, but their voice, even so with
a child of God. We're born again by, Peter said,
we're born again by incorruptible seed, by the word of And he said,
this is the word of God, which by the gospel has been preached
unto you. This is what gives life. They
hear it for the first time. And they may not see very clearly
at first, like a babe in Christ is. He doesn't see things very
clearly, like that man who saw me walking in his trees. He didn't
understand everything very clearly, but when he heard that voice,
he heard the Master's voice. He said, my sheep will hear my
voice. Now that, yes, that's Christ. That's Christ. That's
me you're talking about. And that's my God and that's
my Christ and that's the way he saved me. And I may not be
able to say Pope Pichie, Pope Pichie, Recosilla, whatever that
is, but that's my Christ. Right? Well, they'll get to know
the words a little later on. All right, a man is saved by
the hearing of God's word. And that's under the sovereign
application of the Holy Spirit. It's all of God and all things
are of God. But the point I'm bringing out
here is you're not saved by seeing miracles. You're saved by hearing
the Word preached. Not saved. Simon Magus, we're
going to see him. You know, I knew this would happen.
I knew this would happen. I was going to preach on Simon
Magus. I was going to preach all the way down through verses,
down to verse 25, verse 24. I knew it would happen. I knew
when I read verse 5, I thought, I'm not going to get past that.
There's no way. What does it mean to preach a
cryer? I knew that. But Simon Magus
is an example. We're going to see that Sunday
night that Lord of a man who saw some miracles. He heard,
yeah, he heard, but not, he was like those people Paul described
in Hebrews 6. He was around, a partaker, tasted,
participated in the movement of the Holy Spirit. He saw the
miracles. He saw, he was in and around, heard the word, a powerful
preacher, and he believed. Yeah, he was in, he was convinced
in his mind, it's hard, but in his mind And that God's sovereign
at Christ is the only savior and so forth. But what he was
taken up with was those miracles, right? Simon Magus. Magus means magician, sorcerer. And that's all he was interested
in. That's all he wanted to be partaker
of, participate in, is the miracles. Well, Christ said to Martha that,
you know, miracles are not without their place. He says, they heard and saw miracles,
which he did. Christ said to Martha, listen
to this, listen to what Christ said to Martha at Lazarus's tomb. Now, he'd been talking to her
some precious thing. Martha, I am the resurrection and the
life. If a man believe in me, he'll never die. Things like
that. And Martha was all distraught,
as any of us would be, because her brother, whom she loved,
had died. And finally, Christ said unto
her, Martha, said I not unto you, that if thou wouldest believe,
you'd see the glory of God? What's the word I'm looking for?
The order of things there. Said I not unto you, if you would
believe, just believe. Take the Son of God at his word.
Believe that you'll see the glory of God. You'll see some things. Believe. And then you'll see
some miracles. Not vice versa. That's not the
way it is. That's not the way it does things.
And isn't the gospel, let me say this, isn't the gospel He
said, didn't I say to you, if you believe, you'd see the glory
of God? You catch that? If you believe, you'll see the
glory of God? What is the glory of God? Well, it's the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
It's the gospel. That's the chief glory of God.
That's where you see the chief glory of God. Isn't that the
greatest wonder and miracle that you've ever seen? The gospel? I've seen some fantastic things
in my day. I've had some fantastic things
happen to me. things that I would. That you would be amazed by if
I told you that had miracles signs and wonders about you.
But that's not what we're taking up with this. That's not what
amazes us so much. But the gospel of Christ does,
doesn't it? And the greatest, his greatest
wonder and miracle we've ever seen, great is the mystery of
God's manifest in the flesh. But on top of that, believing
the gospel, once Christ, once God shows you Christ and his
person, his work, on top of that, God proves himself to you time
and again. He proves himself to his people
time and again, sign after sign, and miracle after miracle, doesn't
he? Sure he does. Sure he does. But that's the
order of things. He said that a wicked, an evil,
and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. He said
no sign is going to be given but one. What was that? The sign
of the prophet Jonas. As Jonah was in the belly of
the whale three days and three nights, even so must the Son
of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
and rise again. That's Christ crucified, isn't
it? That's the only sign going to be given. Believe that sign
and you'll see wonders. You'll see everything in light
of that wonder. Verse seven, it says that after
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did, and here's where
some of them, unclean spirits cried with a loud voice. You know that's me. When I first
heard the gospel, I cried with a loud voice. This old unclean
spirit that was in me cried out, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. And it says unclean spirits cried
with a loud voice and came out. I cried with a loud voice the
first time, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. I cried the
second time with a loud voice, Lord, be praised. Lord, have mercy. And in the
next was the Lord be praised with a loud voice. That old unclean
spirit came out, came out, a radical inward change, an unclean spirit. And it says that many that were
possessed with them and many taken with palsies. You know
what palsies are? They paralyze, palsies paralyze
you. I used to have paralysis of the
mind. Didn't you? Of the brain. Paralysis of the
brain. It says they're lame. They that
were lame were healed. Lame from the fall. Lame, crippled. That's God's people, wasn't it?
Lame from the fall in Adam. And crooked in their walk. You were real crooked in your
walk before God got a hold of you and straightened your legs
out. Put your feet in the right path. And we were healed, God's
people, he heals them all. He heals it all that come unto
God by Christ. They are crucified, rise to walk
with him in newness of life. Verse eight, I'll quit. And there
was great joy in the city. Great joy in that city. That city, well, the city that
is constantly spoken of throughout the scriptures is Zion. We're
marching as I am beautiful, beautiful Zion, marching upward design
in the beautiful city of God Zion is always a picture in the
scriptures of the church, the new Jerusalem, the abode of God,
the tabernacle of God, Zion, the city, the shouts of joy in
Zion. There's an Old Testament scriptures
is a scripture. I can't remember where it is,
but it says the shadow of the king was amongst them. The shout
of the king was amongst them, just to be heard in Zion. Shouts
in Zion, shouts of joy, great joy in the city of Zion. And
that's where you live and eat and fellowship and rejoice, isn't
it? In the city, y'all been out there in the city today, in that
evil city, you know, Sodom. And you leave Sodom to come to
Zion, don't you? You leave, you get out of Sodom,
vexed with the conversation of the wicked, and you say, where's
Zion? I've got to get to Zion. And get a little refreshment.
And there's joy unspeakable. You get any joy out of this message?
Joy unspeakable and full of glory. Full of glory. Verse 9 says, but. That's a sad but. There's always
a goat among the sheep. But. But and that's what we're going
to look at Sunday night. There's sheep and there's great
joy, but. There was a certain man. And
I sure don't want to end it on that note, we'll pick it up there
next week, but there's great joy in Zion. What is the joy
of Zion? What is the joy and the rejoicing
of Zion? What is it they rejoice over?
Christ. Christ. So if you would do me
good, preacher or deacon, preach Christ to me. All right, let's
stand and be dismissed in prayer. Our Lord, we thank you for this
word. What a pull. What a pull. Revelation of Christ it is. Three
short verses we've looked at. Full of Christ. Full to overflowing. And our cups run over with mercy
and blessing and revelation of his person. We're not able to...
You have many things to show unto us. It's obvious as we go
verse by verse. We're not able to contain it
all at one time. But, Lord, our hearts burn when
we do see, when you open up the scriptures to us, by the way,
by Christ. Show us Christ. And we thank
you, Lord, for this knowledge, for this revelation of your Son. In whom are he at all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. To whom, by whom, to whom, and
through whom, and to whom are all things. To whom be glory
forever. Amen.