Good evening, let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 334. 334. Be Thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart, Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day
or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my
true word, I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father, I Thy true
Son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee all. Riches I heed not, nor pensive
depraise, Thou mine inheritance now and always, Thou and Thou
only, first in my heart. I'm king of heaven, my treasure
thou art I'm king of heaven, my victory born May I reach heaven's
joys, O bright heaven's sun Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
357. We'll sing the first, second,
and fifth verses. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer
to Thee. Even though it be a cross that
raiseth me, Still all my songs shall be nearer,
my God, to Thee, nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee. Though like the water, the sun
gone down Darkness be over me, my rest a stone that in my dreams I'd be nearer,
my God, to Thee, nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee. Or if on joyful wings, we ping
the sky. Sun, noon, and stars for God,
upward I fly. Till all my songs shall be nearer,
my God, to Thee, nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee. Acts chapter 13, and I'm gonna deal with about seven or eight
verses at a time instead of reading all the way through this. Read
a few verses and then come back and comment on them. Acts 13.
Acts 13. Start reading at verse 13. Now when Paul and his company
loosed from Pathos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John
departing from them returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed
from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. After the reading
of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent
unto them, saying, You men and brethren, if you have any word
of exhortation for the people, say on.' Then Paul stood up,
and beckoning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and ye that
fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel
chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as
strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought he
them out of it. and about the time of forty years
suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had
destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their
land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them
judges about the space of four hundred years, four hundred and
fifty years, until Samuel the prophet." Afterward they desired
a king, and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of
the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when
he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their
king, to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David.
A son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill
all my will, of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise,
raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. Lord, blessed God and Father,
thy Lord Jesus Christ, Our Savior, you raised up a Savior. You provided
us a Savior. And Lord, I know why you provided
us a Savior. Because we were sinners in need
of a Savior. We were lost in need of being
found. We were rebels that had to be
conquered. So Lord, we thank you for providing
us a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We've gathered this evening to
worship and Lord, we need your presence. Oh Lord, of all the
things we need right now and every day, we need you. Lord, we need you. We want you
into our presence this evening. You yourself told us wherever
two or three are gathered together in your name that you would meet
with us. So Lord, we've gathered here in your name, gathered here
to look into your word, and so bless us together, not only to
speak, but to hear. And Lord, as Paul said, give
audience. Lord, that's what we say, give
ear, listen to what we have to say. And Lord, be merciful, be
pitiful, be gracious to those who are not with us because of
the frailty of the flesh. And Lord, for those whose heart's
not in it, I ask God that you have mercy on them and deal with
them. Deal with them. If they're your
children, Lord, you know how to deal with them. Please honor
yourself tonight through the preaching of the gospel. For
Christ's sake, amen. What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and grief to bear What a privilege to carry Everything
to God it bears Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear Oh, because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden? Covered with the load of care? ? Precious Savior, still our refuge
? ? Take him to the Lord in prayer ? ? Do thy friends despise forsake
thee ? to the Lord in prayer. In his arms he'll take and she'll
be. Thou wilt find us soulless there. Gonna deal all the way through
13 to 43, but like I said, I'm gonna read it down to first 23
Get down there and then I'll read a few more and we'll deal
with them as we go But I get my text out of verse 26 Men and brethren children of
the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God To you
is the word of this salvation sent the word of salvation God
sent the Word of Salvation. Now, the Holy Ghost had called
Barnabas and Saul, or Barnabas and Paul, to a work, separate
them to a work, and they went out teaching and preaching the
Gospel. This is what they call the first missionaries. They
left where everybody else was and went to places where other
folks hadn't been. This is where it started, where
they went to the other most parts of the earth. And it tells us
that John Mark had joined them and had been with them. And John
has said in verse 13 here, Now when Paul and his company loosed
from Paphos, remember they preached there, and the deputy got converted
and some other people did, and John departed from them and returned
to Jerusalem. Well, I tell you what, he stayed
a while and then he left, and I want you to see something,
and you keep Acts 13, look with me in Acts 15, with me in verse
36. Paul believed that he had deserted
them in the battle. You know, when they was out on
the work, he said, You know, look what happens here now in
verse 36 of Acts 15. And some days after, Paul said
unto Barnabas, Let us go again, and visit our brethren in every
city where I have preached the word of the Lord, and see how
they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose
surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to
take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and
went not with him to the work. Paul said, I don't want him to
go with me. I don't want him. I don't want him with me at all.
And the contention was so great, they argued about it so much,
about whether he should go or not, that they departed asunder,
one from the other. And so Barnabas took Mark and
sailed on to Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and departed. So
I tell you what, he didn't have that much confidence in John.
He said, the fella would whiz out in the work, We needed somebody
to help us, somebody to take care of us, somebody to go with
us, somebody to be a servant. He decided it's too much for
me. And so Paul said, I don't want him traveling with me anymore.
I don't trust him. But later we find that he did.
He got over that. And then it says here, after
they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch, Pisidian. Now
that's in Galatia. This is in Galatia, this is where
the church of Galatia was at. But he went into Antioch, Pisidia,
and they went into a synagogue, and they sat down. And Nicodemus
said they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and their
Sabbath day's Saturday, from Friday night at six o'clock to
six o'clock Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening. And they went
into that synagogue and sat down. And look what happens after then.
This is why we read the scriptures and this is why we pray. And
after the reading of the law, they dealt with some things about
Moses and the law. Then they read some of the prophets,
the rulers of the synagogue then, those who run the synagogue.
They said unto them, after all the scripture reading and all
the things that was done, they know that these fellows was new
there, they know that something was different. And they said,
You men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation,
something you want to exhort, some message you've got for these
brethren here that's gathered out. He said, If you've got an
exhortation, get up and tell us what you've got to say. We're
ready to hear. Oh, they called them to see if
they would have anything to say. It is like our Lord Jesus Christ. He went into the synagogue on
a Sabbath day, and they read, and then they gave HIM the scriptures
to read. And our Lord read from Isaiah
61, verses 1 through 3. And He read it, and He says,
Now, you know what this is about? What I just read to you? It's
about ME. And the day this scripture is
fulfilled in your ears, he closed the book and they all wondered
at his gracious words. And then just a little while
later, they wanted to kill him and throw him off a cliff, but
they read the law and the prophets. And so Paul stood up in verse
16, Paul stood up. He stood up just like I'm standing
up. He stood up. And he beckoned
with his hands, he looked at the folks and he said, now listen,
he said, I want you to listen, get you that fear God, listen
to me, give audience to me, pay attention to me. And there was
two categories of people here that he addressed. The Jews,
he says, you men of Israel, he addressed the Jews, you men of
Israel, and then you that fear God, those would be the Gentiles
that sat in the back. Give audience, listen to what
I've got to say. And then look what he began to
do. He talked about the salvation that God did in the Old Testament.
The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers. And you know,
that's exactly what God does for anybody that He does something
for. God chooses who He's gonna save. He chooses nations to raise
up and set out. But He started out with one man,
Abraham. one man, and that one man, Abraham,
had a son, Jacob. Jacob had Esau, Isaac, and Esau,
and so here he comes, Isaac had Jacob and Esau, and so Jacob
was next, and the next thing you know, he had 12 sons. Joseph
was sent down into Israel, down into Egypt, and then when he
got down there, he became the ruler of that place. And God
sent them people down there, and He chose them. And bless
His name, I'm thankful that God's salvation and election is of
God's choice. If it was left up to us, we'd
save our family and let everybody else figure out what they can
do for themselves. If I had the power of salvation
and had the power to choose, you know who I'd choose? Everybody
that I loved. But God's not that way. You know
who he chooses? He chooses the weakest. Abraham
was a heathen idolater down in the area of the Chaldees over
where a rock sat on the river over there. He was an idolater
and God called him and chose him and elected him. Jacob, he
said, he's the God of Jacob, the God of election. And oh,
God did, God has to do the acting. He said, God, the fathers of
our Israel, chose our fathers. He did it, God acted. And it's
always through grace. I want you to see something,
and I want you to look at, if you find it, 1 Samuel, chapter
12. I want you to see this, 1 Samuel,
chapter 12. You need to see this, what God
says about Israel and how he, why he saved Israel. And I'll
give you a chance to get over there. God did show, He chose
them, but He chose them because of grace. And He says they were
strangers in Egypt. And that's what we are. We're
strangers in this world. And I mean real strangers in
this world. This world absolutely has no
attraction to us whatsoever. And look what He said here in
1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 22. for the Lord did not forsake
his people for his great name's sake. Now listen to this, because
it has pleased the Lord to make you his people. Let me read another one to you.
You don't have to turn over, but let me read this one to you.
Oh, let me find it here right quick. Read this one. Oh, he
said, it just pleased me to make you my people. That's the only
reason I done it. he said over here in Deuteronomy,
he said, The LORD did not set His love upon you, nor choose
you, because you were more in number than any people. But you
were the fewest of all people, but because the LORD loved you,
And because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto
your fathers, hath brought you out with a mighty hand, redeemed
you out of the house of bondage. And so you see, God said, the
only reason I done it is because it pleased me. You was the fewest
of people. I set my love on you because
I would to do it. And ain't you thankful that that's
the way he does us? That's the way God saves people?
And he said he exalted the people when they dealt to strangers
in the land. The old Jacob and Joseph and
them, they were so exalted. And then it come to a time, he
said he brought them out with a high hand. That means he brought
them out and let everybody know. He said, let my people go and
he wouldn't do it. And he said, he told Pharaoh,
I've raised you up for one reason, Pharaoh, to let you know that
I'm God, and I'm gonna save my people in spite of you, in spite
of Egypt, in spite of your hatred, in spite of everything about
you, and in spite of them, I'm gonna bring them out of Egypt.
I'm gonna bring them out of Egypt. And he brought them out with
blood. He brought them out with blood
on the doors, and he brought them out with power, with a mighty
hand. Oh my, and they were strangers
in Egypt. Strangers, and oh my. And I tell
you what, brought them out of the house of bondage. And oh,
thank God he brought us out of the house of bondage. And then
look what it says in verse 18. And he said, and then at about
the time of 40 years, he suffered their manners in the wilderness. You know why they stayed in the
wilderness for 40 years? And I mean they went around and
around and around in circles for 40 years. They could have
been in Canaan in three or four days. They could have been in
the promised land. You know why they didn't? You
know why he suffered their manners? The way they acted is because
they were so much murmured. They hadn't been out of Egypt.
24 to 36 hours and they said, Oh, what have you brought us
out here? They come up to the Red Sea. What are we going to
do? What are we going to do? Here comes the army after us.
Why didn't you just leave us over there? We're going to perish
here in the wilderness. God said, you just stand still.
You stand still. I'm gonna show you the salvation
of the Lord. And they went through a whole
dry shod. And so they went through the wilderness over and over
and over, and everybody, everybody that was under 20 years of age
that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness because they were
so rebellious, they were so, mean, they murmured, they complained,
they didn't like the bread God gave them, didn't like the meat
God gave them, and yet He kept them for 40 years in the wilderness
until everybody died, except those that's 20 years old. And
I mean He put up with them. Oh, He was patient, He were long-suffering,
they murmured, they complained, they had unbelief, and they said,
Oh, but we was back in Egypt eating them garlics and leeks.
it'll gotta go back. And oh my, but then not only
that, but God had a place prepared for him. Just like he's got a
place prepared for us. And in verse 19, and when he
had destroyed seven nations, seven nations in the land of
Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. Did you notice that? He said,
you know, Joshua was the one who fought all the battles You
know Jericho come the walls come coming down And they defeated
all these people and they went in there and they had all this
land There's 12 tribes They divided that land up to them and the
only tribe that didn't get anything was the Levites Because they
was mixed and mingled among the people and yet he gave them he
gave him this promised land gave him the inheritance and and I
destroyed nations, and He destroyed all their enemies, and God destroyed
all of our enemies, and I tell you what, that promises us an
inheritance. You know, that Canaan was just
a type of where we re going when we leave this world. And I tell
you what, then they had a place prepared for them, destroyed
those seven nations, and he destroyed all of our enemies. So we're
guaranteed an inheritance. And then that, look what he said.
And then he supplied all their needs. Now listen to this. After
that, after he gave them all the lot and Joshua died, after
that he gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years. And you look at the book of Judges.
Judges comes right after the book of Ruth. And you go through
there and here's what happened to Israel. They would sin against
God. They would act so evil. that
God would deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And then
they'd start crying, they'd start moaning, they'd start groaning.
So God raised up somebody, a judge, and he'd go deliver them. He'd
go save them. And then they'd done that for
450 years. That they just, a judge, Jephthah
was one, Gideon was one, Samson was one, and he had all these
people that were judges. And they, every time Israel,
they'd get in trouble, and then they'd have to go. So he had
judges that would go and judge Israel and tell them what they
was doing. And then God said he'd send a
deliverer and he'd save them. He took 300 men, 300 men. When
Gideon, he said that Gideon, Gideon got a big army to go save
Israel one time. God, he said, send them all back
home. and said, I want everybody to go down there and get them
a drink of water. And he says, them that takes their hands and
use their hands to dip up water, that's who you're gonna, that's
the army gonna be. So they washed them, there was 300 of them.
And they went, and Gideon, being a judge, he went with 300 people
and saved all of Israel. It's a great big army. God don't
need a whole lot of people to do what he gonna do. But then
he supplied their need 450 years, gave them judgments, and then
he gave them a prophet. The first prophet that you read
about other than Moses was Samuel. And you know what Samuel's first
message was when he was just a boy? God called him when he
was just a boy. And you know what the first message
God gave him to give to an old man? You all remember what it
was? God come to him and said, Samuel,
Samuel. And he'd go over and say, I thought
Eli was coming. Nope, nope, I'm not talking to
you. And finally, God spoke to him, told him. And Eli asked
him, said, what did the Lord tell you? What did the Lord have
to say? Don't hide it from me. And this
is, I mean, he's just a young, I mean, he's just a boy. And
you know what he told old Eli? He said, God said he's gonna
kill both your sons. That's the first message he had.
God's gonna kill both your sons. And oh, you know what Eli said?
He didn't go to squalling and crying and begging. You know
what he said? It's the Lord. It's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
My sons are no good, God knows it, and he gonna kill them. And
he did. And then look what else he said.
And afterward, they desired a king. You remember when they said,
we want a king like all the other nations got a king. They said,
you know, God was the one that reigned over them. And he reigned
over them through prophets, through the preaching, through prophets
giving them messages, gathering around and judging them. And
he gave them it. And they said, we want to be
a king like all the other nations. And they gave him Saul, the son
of Kish. And you know why they chose him?
Because he has head and shoulders above everybody else, and because
he was so handsome. That's a good reason to have
a king. He's taller than everybody else, and he's better looking
than anybody else. Oh, this does make a good king. Look how big
he is. And look how good looking he is. I said, whoa, what a king
he's going to be. He turned out to be the awfulest
king there ever was. God even, he was just a horrible,
horrible king. But then look what else he done.
And he used him for 40 years. And listen to this now, in verse
22. And when he had removed him,
do you notice what it says there? When he removed him. When God removed him, God removed
him. He raised up unto them David
to be their king. Oh my. David, king of Israel. And I tell you, listen to what
God said. You see, he raises up kings and sets down kings.
And this is what God said about him. God gave testimony about
David and said, I have found David, a son of Jesse. A man after my own heart which
shall fulfill all my will." And what he's saying was that David
would do just exactly what I want him to do. He'll do everything
I will for him to do. And he'll fulfill my will. And
you know, David is the type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son
of David. You know, they knew that David
would have a son. And David's son would be the
king over Yisrael and the day that he was born when they found
out that the Lord Jesus Christ was born You remember here in
sin since some fellows death said go down there and find him
that's born king of the Jews Said I want to come and worship
him Because they knew that David had a son that would be raised
up to be the king. I And that's what God said, I'll
raise up one to sit on your throne forever and ever. He was a type
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord after the flesh was
of the seed of David. And now look what happens now.
God's goodness revealed in his blessed son. Of this man's seed,
verse 23. Of this man's seed. Not seeds
as of many, one. God according to his promise.
God according to his promise. What promise? David, I'll have
a man to sit on your throne forever and ever and ever. He'll reign
forever and ever. He'll reign in righteousness.
He'll reign in judgment. And I'll tell you what, and it
said here, of this man's seed of God, according to his promise.
And believe me, when God makes a promise, mark her down, it's
kept, it's kept. He made a promise that I'm gonna
give you all a Savior. And they was looking for the
Savior to come. And he raised unto Israel, listen
to this, a Savior, a Savior. You all need a Savior. You need
someone to save you. And they asked them, you know,
when our Lord Jesus Christ was getting ready to send back up
to glory, they asked the Lord Jesus, said, Without this time,
restore the kingdom to Israel, because that's what they thought
the king would do. He's going to give Israel, he's
going to reign over Israel, set up the kingdom of Israel again.
And they said, Oh, it's not for you to know the times and seasons.
That's not what this is about. This is about the kingdom of
God. And oh my, he was given according to promise. Look in
Isaiah 11 with me. Look in Isaiah 11. Go over here in Isaiah 11. He was given according to promise.
You know how many promises in the Old Testament mentioned the
Lord Jesus Christ? all of Isaiah 53, all of Psalm
22, all of Psalm 18, all Psalm of 89. I mean, just one after
another talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. It talked about
that God would raise up a savior, a Messiah, a deliverer, a deliverer. And look what he said here in
chapter 11, verse one and two. And there shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of
his roots. Talking about David. And a branch
shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the
fear of the Lord. And oh my, And I'll tell you,
that's why that's a promise of our Lord Jesus Christ coming.
And His coming was according to promise, purpose from eternity,
and given in the fullness of time. Now look down here in verse
24 and verse 25. And He was coming, was preached
to, and prepared by John. And then He said, of this man
seed of Israel, a Savior, Jesus. He named who He was. And when
John had first preached before His coming, before He came, the
one that was promised, preached a baptism of repentance to all
the people of Israel. And John fulfilled his course,
saying, Whom you thinketh that I am? I'm not he. There's one
coming after me whose shoes of his feet I'm not worthy to unloose. So he said he had to prepare.
John the Baptist, when he came, he was preparing the way of the
Lord. He preached the coming of Christ. He preached the coming
of Christ. And then look in verse 26. Men
and brethren, Men and brethren. There's men there, and then there's
people who are brethren. Children of the stock of Abraham,
you come from Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you
is this word of salvation sent. Oh, this is what happens. This is what has to happen. The
word of salvation has to be sent. We didn't send after it. God's
gotta send the gospel to us. He's gotta come to where we are.
He's gotta send the gospel to us. And thank God he does. He sends the gospel by the Holy
Spirit, sends the gospel to us. And then look what happens here
in verse 27 and 28 through 29. For they that dwell at Jerusalem
and their rulers because they knew him not, nor yet the voices
of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they have
fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no
cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be
slain. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and
laid him in a sepulcher. Oh my, he was condemned by the
rulers. We know very well what happened.
They said, we'll not have this man to reign over us. We hate
this man. He makes himself to be God. He
is condemned by the rulers. That's what they did. He says,
those that dwell at Jerusalem, not them that had been at Jerusalem,
people that was there right now. Those that dwell at Jerusalem
now, and they're rulers. They're rulers. The high priests
in the 70s and all of them, they all knew. They didn't know him. He went unto his own and his
own received him not. And they didn't know what the
prophets had to say. They didn't understand the scriptures.
They didn't know what God was saying in his word. They didn't
know what God had to say about Christ and his coming. And those
voices of the prophets are read every Sabbath day. And yet they
turned around and fulfilled the scriptures that they know nothing
about, that they never heard and never paid any attention
to. They fulfilled the very scriptures in condemning him. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. His visage was more marred than
any man's. They plucked out his beard. They
beat him unmercifully. and all the things that they
said they would do to him. And the scriptures tells us that
they plucked out his beard and they said they would gamble for
his garments. Said when he is thirsty, they'd
give him vinegar to drink. They said he would be as a lamb
led to the slaughter, bruised and beaten and battered. And
yet they fulfilled, and they didn't know him. They didn't
know him. Didn't know his word, didn't
know the voice of the prophets. And oh my, and they found no,
and this says here, they found no cause of death in him. There
in verse 28. Found no reason of death. Pilate
told them that. Pilate brought him back out there
and said, I found no fault in this man. Why, what evil hath
he done? What has he done that you want
to kill him? What has he done that you want
him dead? And they couldn't find no cause
of death in him. There was no reason to kill him.
Why do you want him dead? Why? Why do you want him dead?
And oh my, how horrible, how horrible is the human heart to
condemn unto death the innocent. God said that to slay the innocent
and justify the wicked is an abomination, and this is exactly
what they've done. They let a wicked man go, and
they judged an innocent man, done just exactly what God says,
an abomination. And oh, how awful the human heart
is to condemn the innocent, the sinless Son of God. Pilate said,
oh, no. This is, there's no cause in
him. But they said, we'll not have this man reign over. And
then finally Pilate said this, Pilate willing, willing to content
the people. This is what you want? I want
you to be contented. Here he is, here he is. And oh,
and then look what it says there in verse 29. And when they had
fulfilled all that was written of him, what does that mean? That means that they crucified
him just exactly the way the scripture said they would. That
he would be forsaken of God. That they would beat him like
they said they would. They'd put a crown of thorns
on him like they said they would. Put a scarlet robe on him like
they said they would. I mean everything was fulfilled.
They ridiculed him. They derided him. They mocked
him. They scourged him. They made
fun of him. He saved others but he can't
save himself. They did all, all the things
that the scripture said was, and I tell you what, they, everything
that they said about him was fulfilled. And then look what
it says. And they took him down from the
tree, took him down, took him down off that tree. And you know,
when they took him down, they took him down, you know, his
hands was nailed like this. And his feet was on top. I personally
don't think he's on a cross like that. I think they talked about
a tree when they mentioned a tree and that's a crucifixion. And
anyway, that's the way I believe it's one foot over the other
and one hand over the other. And so when they picked that
pole up out of the ground, that tree, you know, they had to pull
his hands through them nails. They had to pull his feet through
them nails. And his body was covered in blood. You could see the ribs on his
back. He says, my bones, my bones,
I say. And they fulfilled all this and
they got him down. And they got him down and the
people, Joseph came and got him. And you know what, they had to
prepare his body. They had to wash his body up,
get all that blood off of him. Get all the blood off him, get
that crown of thorns off of his head. Wash them wounds in his
hands, wash them wounds in his feet. washed the blood off of
his side where they had touched, got him with a spear. They fulfilled
everything that they said this. There's down there, some soldiers
was down there gambling for his coat, gambling for his garments. He's hanging there in agony and
they're gambling over what he owns. Oh my, they fulfilled it. And
they brought him down and listen, and then they put him in a grave.
That's what you do with dead people, you put them in a grave.
But look what it says God did for him. But God raised him from
the dead. Oh, I said, boy, we got rid of
him this time. We'll never be bothered with him again. And
I heard Cody say this the other day, you know, he says, They
rolled away the stone away from Lazarus, but who rolled away
the stone from Christ's grave? He said, Christ did. And he did,
Christ did, he took it away. And he was raised from the dead. You know why he was raised from
the dead? It was because he had finished and
accomplished what God intended for him to do. God justified
us and him and everybody else by his death on that cross. And
to PROVE that he was the Messiah, to PROVE that he was the Christ,
to PROVE that he had life in himself, God raised him from
the dead. Now look what else it says now.
And oh my, God raised him up. And then he was seen of many
witnesses And then in verse 31, And he was seen many days of
them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are
his witnesses unto the people. You remember that's what Peter
said, said, We're eyewitnesses. We've seen him after his grave,
and he stayed for 40 days on this earth, appearing unto men
and women, preaching to them, eating with them, fellowshipping
with them. and enjoying their fellowship
and him theirs. And I tell you, they had lots
of those that, you know, what I preached Sunday about Peter
and Andrew, John and James, that's where they was at in Galilee
when he called them. So these men come from Galilee
with him. All those men from Galilee were witnesses of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to verse 32,
I love this. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, You know, Isaiah 52, 7 says this, How beautiful upon
the mountain are the feet of him that preacheth glad tidings
of good things. Well, here he says, Oh, listen,
we declare unto you glad tidings. We've got some good news for
you. How that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God
made promise. God hath fulfilled the same unto
us, their children, those that God made promise to. Now, it
s not all Israel. This is the ones God made promise
to unto us, their children, that He raised up Jesus again. And
I tell you what, and you know, He makes some declarations here,
some facts here, and He s dogmatic about it. He said in verse 33,
As it is written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son this day
of thy begotten as concerning him that raised up the dead,
he returns to no corruption. He said, on this wise, I'll give
you the sure mercies of David. And he said in verse 35, thou
shall not suffer, thou holy one to see corruption. Now, let me
tell you something. He declared unto him the resurrection
of Christ, and he uses the Old Testament to preach him. And
I tell you something, beloved, he fulfilled all of them and
God raised him up. And it said, he saw no corruption.
Now I'm telling you something, you know why he saw no corruption?
Because he had no sin. You know why he didn't see any
corruption? Because he had life in himself. Now you and I, the
scriptures tells us, we are corrupt. This corruption, this corruption,
I was a time, I was a little baby, smooth skin, no wrinkles,
Held in somebody's hand and rocked. And now look at me. What happens? Corruption. Sin. And that's why it says this corruption.
has to put on incorruption. Christ didn't have to put on
incorruption because He had no corruption. He had no sin. He
had none of Adam's blood in Him. We do. That's why, beloved, this
mortal must put on immortality. This whole corruption must put
on incorruption. But Christ didn't. He didn't
corrupt. You know why? Because there's
no reason for Him to rot. No reason for Him to be corrupted.
He had no sin. Had no sin. You find somebody,
I was watching the thing today where they found a man that had
been buried for a couple of months, and when they found him, he had
turned into goo. Turned into goo. He just, you
know why? Because he's corrupt. Buried
in a grave. Buried, and he just starts rottening
automatically. Corruption turns into just jelly
and everything in it just runs out of him, and that s what we
are. If God don t have mercy on us, then listen, how many
people are already able, take all the saints of God s people,
that no matter where they was, lost at sea, burned at the stake,
burned in houses, multitudes of people there at dust under
dust they was brought and dust they'll go but God knows wherever
one of them is and he'll bring that dust out of there and they
will be incorruptible they will put on incorruptibility they'll
put on mortality and our Lord Jesus Christ didn't because he
had no sin And I tell you, it was written that he would die
and be buried, and he didn't decay because his body was preserved. He said, I give you the sure
mercies of David, and that's the everlasting covenant that
God made with him. Then look here, what a glorious,
glorious message here in verse 38 and
39. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren. I want you to know this. I said
all this for you to understand this. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, through this man, who
hasn't seen corruption, this man, who's the Savior, this man
that God raised from the dead, this man that they crucified
and he was buried and was raised again, this man is priest unto
you the forgiveness of sins. Oh, my. So if you need forgiveness
of sins, the first thing you got to realize that you got sins. And then look what he says. And
by him, by him, all that believe are justified from all things,
everything they ever said, done, ever action they ever had, justified
from all things, which the law of Moses could never do. And
then he gives them a solemn, solemn, solemn, solemn warning. And look what he says. Beware,
you all beware now. I've just preached the gospel
to you. I gave you the word of salvation. I've told you about
a savior. I've told you about one who didn't
see corruption. I told you about God's son. And
he said, beware lest that come upon you as spoken of in the
prophets. He said, Behold, you despisers,
you're a despiser, you despise God, you despise His Word, you
despise being called a sinner, you just sit around and worry
and wonder and try to ponder and figure it all out, you're
going to perish. For God said, I'll work a work
in your days, and He did a work, He did a work in His blessed
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In no way will you ever believe
it, though a man declare it unto you." And that's what David,
that's what Paul had just done. And then look what happens. Look
what happens. And when the Jews were going,
there's a great effect upon this message now. And when the Jews
were going out of the synagogue, The Gentiles thought that these
words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Next time we
get together, I want you to preach to this. I said, preach again.
I want to hear this message again. I want you to do this some more.
And when the congregation was broken up, everybody left, everybody
stand around talking like we do, broken up, many of the Jews
and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas. Followed them
around, wanted to see what they had to say, and I believe they
taught them day in and day out. Paul and Barnabas, who's speaking
to them, here's what he told them. He said he persuaded them,
persuaded them to do one thing, continue in the grace of God.
Oh my, continue what I preached unto you. You ain't nothing else
to continue in, are there? If salvation's all of grace,
why else would you go any other way? Any other way. Our blessed Savior, thank you
for your word. Lord, your word. It's your words,
not mine, it's yours. And you do with it what seemeth
good in your sight. You use it to your good, to our
good and your glory. May we remember some of these
things about our Lord Jesus Christ. God gave us a savior. They crucified
him, they didn't know him. They didn't know your word. They
didn't know who they was killing. But oh Lord, thank you and bless
your holy name that you raised him again from the dead. And
right now, he sits at the right hand of majesty on high. Having
purged us from our sins, he by himself purged us from all our
sins, sat down, and God, we're so thankful that we are sitting
with him, that this salvation's accomplished, and all of our
sins have been forgiven, and we're justified by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, please help us in our heart
and soul to continue in the grace of God. We're persuaded that
salvation's no other way. We've been persuaded that the
Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior and the only Savior, our Redeemer,
the lover of our soul. Bring glory to yourself through
us. Be merciful and gracious to those who are not here. We
ask in Christ's name, amen, amen. Let's do 303 in the end book,
then you liberty to go. Let's stand together. 303. I
was singing this on the way to service
tonight. 303. Jesus saved her by a deep, Over
life's tempestuous sea, ? God and compass come from thee
? ? Jesus, sailor, pilot be ? ? As a mother stills her child ? ?
How canst touch the ocean wide ? ? Boisterous waves obey thy
will ? ? When thou says to them be still ? ? Wondrous sovereign
of the sea ? ? Jesus, sinner by the deed ? ? And the fearful breakers roar
? ? Twixt thee and the peaceful rest ? ? Then while lean on thy
breast ? ? May I hear thee say to me ? ? Fear not, I will not
leave ? See you Sunday, God willing.