If you'd like to follow along,
I'm going to be in Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13, and I wanna begin reading in
verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which ye could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come
upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold ye despisers
and wonder. and perish. For I work a work
in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though
a man declare it unto you. And when the Jews were gone out
of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might
be preached to them the next Sabbath. And I'm gonna stop right
there. The title of this Paul is this
man is preached this man is preached Now this is the message of Paul
the Apostle at Antioch He was preaching in a synagogue on the
Sabbath Now if you read the book of Acts you sort of see that
this is what Paul the Apostle did He went places And he preached
Christ. That's what the apostle Paul
did understand. We understand he did do other
things, but everything else for the apostle Paul was secondary
to this. He went places and he preached
Jesus Christ. He went down to a river once
where prayer was want to be made, where he met a woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple. and he preached Christ. Whatever Paul did was in support
of his ministry. Wherever Paul was, Paul preached
Christ. Wherever and whenever Paul was
anywhere, he preached Christ. There was no Judaism, no law
preached, except as reference to or illustration of Jesus Christ. Because Paul preached Christ. This is clear. From the scriptures,
from his own words, written down, holy scripture. But here, this
is at the end of his message. And he starts it with these five
words. Be it known unto you. What do we see from this? We
see one thing for sure. There are some things that are
to be known. There are some things that are
to be said out loud. Paul had just preached in the
synagogue at Antioch. Now understand this also. Cause I did look into this a
little bit as much as you can through history. We don't know
a lot about synagogues. All I, all we know is they showed
up in between Malachi and the gospels. There are no synagogues
in the old Testament. You won't find it. Well, synagogue
is a Greek word and it means an assembly house, a place where
people assemble. I'm assuming this is part of
a Greek custom that has been brought in and that the Romans
have kept up and the Jews kept up because you will see synagogues
in Israel, but you will see them outside of Israel. Paul's in
Antioch of Pisidia. There's one in Iconia that he's
going to go to. And in the synagogues, it was
a gathering now on the Sabbath day. The Jews used it, and I'm
sure in Israel, they had a little more say over what went on in
a synagogue. But the Jews used it as a worship
service. Because the temple's in Jerusalem
and they can't get there. But in this worship service,
there were Jews and there were proselytes, believing Gentiles
that had converted to Judaism, so they say. But there were also
those that could come that were Gentiles that were visitors.
It was not the totally separated thing that was at the temple,
where you did have the courts, the inner courts, and you had
the court of the Gentiles, but it's not the same thing. This
was like a public house, and our apostle, the apostle to the
Gentiles, Paul would go there and preach. Our Lord Jesus Christ
went to the synagogues and preached. You'll find actually in Acts
14 one, and it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together
into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake that a great multitude
of both the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. So a synagogue
was a place where there was Jew and Gentile. Why am I saying this? Because
the next statement Paul says, be it known unto you therefore,
Then he says, men and brethren. Now you can take that two ways.
The Jews say this at the beginning when they send word to ask Paul
if he and Barabbas had anything to say. They say, men and brethren,
do you have anything to say to the people? If so, say on. But
here, men and brethren, you can say it two ways. Jews and Gentiles. Or you can also say, men and
my brothers in Christ. Because I can tell you this one
thing. Men may hear this, men may know this, be it known unto
you, but only the brethren are going to believe it. Only the
brethren are going to believe it. But we preach publicly. Paul preached publicly. And some
believed and some did not. I mean, it's a small statement,
men and brethren, but he wanted it to be known to every man. Paul was preaching to both Jew
and Gentile and to believers and unbelievers alike because
Paul had a message for men and brethren. Paul had been given a message
for men, any man and all men. because the gospel message is
to be preached and proclaimed in public. This is a public assembly. Anyone who wants to come here
can come here. We don't exclude anyone. All
we ask is proper behavior and respect for the word of God and
for respect of the assembly of God's saints in public. But here's the thing, be it known
unto you, there is only one message. For who? For men and brethren.
For believer and unbeliever, there's only one message. There's
only one gospel, there's only one Christ. There's only one
message. Now if you're hearing a different
message than the message Paul preached, you might wanna look
somewhere else. Because I can tell you this,
of a certainty, the Apostle Paul preached the gospel in its purest
form. The only one who preached it
any purer than him was Jesus Christ himself. This man was
taught of God. These words were written down
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and they are for
our edification. They are also for our reproof
and rebuke. but with all longsuffering and
doctrine. There's only one message. Be
it known unto you, there's only one message. There's only one
message. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, had a
ministry that was public as well. Our ministry, like the Apostle
Paul's here, our ministry here is public. Be it known unto you,
Paul was preaching to men, Jew, Gentile, bond-free, rich, poor,
male and female. Because Paul's ministry was to
preach Jesus Christ and his gospel. Paul's message, as revealed here,
Paul's message is this man. This one man. This one man. through this man is preached. Now this visit to the synagogue
starts with the reading of the law and the prophets in verses
14 and 15. They departed from Perga, they
came to Antioch and Pisidia and went unto the synagogue on the
Sabbath day and they sat down. After the reading of the law
and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them
saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation
for the people, say on. And I'm gonna tell you something.
Paul had a word of exhortation for the people. Paul, the apostle,
had a message. And that message is this man. This man is preached unto you. Now, it doesn't tell us what
was read from the Law and the Prophets. Only a couple of times
we'll hear where something was read in a synagogue. One was
Jesus Christ, read from the book of Isaiah. And he told them,
this scripture of this day is fulfilled in your ears. What? To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord. The spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he has anointed me What? To preach the gospel to
the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the
book and he said, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your
ears. He stopped right there. I'm not going into that. But
he read that in the synagogue. We'll have another, there's another
instance where someone was reading the scriptures and it's told
to us what they were reading. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading
Isaiah 53. And Philip took that passage
and preached unto him what? Jesus. He preached unto him Jesus. You understand? Both times we've
got, there's more, but this is the only two I'm citing. There's
a reading of scripture in the synagogue. There's a reading
of scripture by an individual. But what do the men of God do?
They preach Christ. It doesn't tell us here what
they read when Paul and Barnabas were there in this synagogue.
And I'm gonna tell you why. Because it doesn't matter what
was read. If it was read from the law and the prophets, Paul
was gonna stand up and preach Christ. Because what is the law
and the prophets? But the prophecy and the word
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because this man is the message
no matter where you look in this book. Old Testament, New Testament. Law, prophets, Psalms. Proverbs, the Song of Solomon. It doesn't matter, our Lord Jesus
Christ, this man is the message. Wherever you are, and I just
thought that was worth throwing in. Because they read the Law
and the Prophets, and Paul stood up and preached Christ. Now,
if you don't see, or if I don't see, in a particular passage
of Scripture, Christ, the problem's with me, not with the Scripture. And if it's you, the problem's
with you, not with the Scripture. Because every word of God written
down in this book is referring to and a reference to, sometimes
illustrative of, our Lord Jesus Christ, whether we see it or
not. I don't know, Walter, if this
happens to you, but I go looking for a place to preach,
something to preach in the scriptures, and I do it different ways. Matt
gives me bulletins, sometimes he gives me ideas. I listen to
sermons, sometimes that gives me ideas. I look through old
scripture readings that I've done in years past, sometimes
that gives me an idea, or a scripture catches my eye, catches my mind. But you know, one of the ways
I think I've learned to tell, like I said, Walter, I don't
know if this happens to you, but when I get something good, and
I think I got a sermon coming here on this, I get distracted. You understand? Thoughts come
into my head, it got nothing to do with this, and I have to
go do something, and then I have to come back to it. You understand,
I don't know how it works, but I've figured it out. That when
I get a hold of something and I start writing or scribbling
some notes or I start typing and then, you know, the cat yammers
and the dog wants out and I've got to go do this and I remembered
that I forgot to do something else. Something wants to pull
me away from the truth. And sometimes, I'll be honest,
sometimes I've got to step back and then come back to it again.
It happens. But you understand, what I'm
looking for and trying to preach every time I come here is this
man, Jesus Christ. This man is preached. That's
who Paul's talking about, this man. This man is preached. So who is this man? Well, in
verse 17, Paul starts preaching. 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. This man that's preached unto
you is the God who has chosen. You knew I was gonna bring election
in it some ways, didn't you? That's how Paul starts out his
message. Like I said, we don't know what
he wrote, what they read at the beginning of the Law of the Prophets,
why he started here, but this is where Paul starts. Paul starts
with this. Not with the fact that the people
of Israel were in Egypt. No, he starts with God. What? The God of this people
of Israel chose our fathers. This man who is preached is the God who chose. Jesus Christ
told his disciples, you did not choose me. Flat out. Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. Yes, there is a choice in salvation,
but it's not yours. I mean, how much more simple
can I be? There is a choice in salvation, but it belongs to
this man who's preached unto you. God hath chosen. God chose. Then what did Paul say? And exalted the people when they
dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. This man who's preached unto
you is the God who has chosen, and he is the God who has exalted
his people. He made, it says it in the Old
Testament, look it up in Exodus, he made a difference between
the people of Israel and the people of Egypt. Now physically,
mentally, There's no difference between the people of Israel
and the people of Egypt. There is none. They're all men. They're all fallen sinners. But
this is the God who has chosen and he has exalted his people. And with a high arm, what? Brought
them out of Egypt. So the God who has chosen is
the God who exalted, and he is also the God who has delivered. Delivered. And I've ordained
you, what he told his disciples afterwards, he said, you didn't
choose me, I chose you, and I've ordained you, that you're gonna
bring forth fruit, and your fruit's gonna remain. God has delivered
his people. Verses 22 and 23. You'll see. When he had removed him and he raised
him up, David to be their king. To whom also he gave testimony,
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart,
which shall fulfill all my will. of this man's seed, David's seed, hath God promised, according
to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior. A Savior, Jesus. Jesus. Not Christ the Lord, although
he is. The seed of David is Jesus, a
man. Understand, the God who has chosen
became a man. The God who is exalted has became
a man. The God who delivers became a
man. The seed of David is the Savior
of Israel. And this man, This man that's
preached unto you, this man is preached, is David's Lord. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand. I like that, I do. The Lord said
to my Lord, sit thou at thy right hand. David's seed is David's
Lord. Who? The Savior, Jesus. Now, what did Paul preach here? Behold, be it known unto you,
this man is preached. the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins. There
is no salvation without the forgiveness of sins. There's no way to stand
before a holy God without the forgiveness of sins. There's
no way for this Jesus to be a savior without the forgiveness of sins. This man, this God who chose,
the God that delivered, this man forgives sins. Verse 26. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God. Now that's a description. To
you is the word of this salvation sent. What is the word of this
salvation? This man, Paul's preaching, forgives
sins. And in a very real sense, this
man, Paul's preaching right now, has forgiven sins. Some people just don't know about
it yet. The word of Jesus Christ is sent. To you is the word of this salvation
sent. Walter, when I read that, that
hit me, what you said a while back. About how preachers, it
doesn't say preachers are called in the scriptures. What's it
say? It says they were sent. How shall they preach except
they be sent? How can you preach except you
be sent? And this is the thing, those
preachers are sent with the word of this salvation. That in this
man that's preached, he is our salvation. He is our salvation. The word of Jesus Christ is sent. Preachers are sent to preach
the gospel of peace. What's the gospel of peace? The
word of this salvation. What? The forgiveness of sins.
The forgiveness of sins. Be it known unto you by this
man, the one I preached, sins are forgiven. How? Verses 27 through 37. I'm not gonna go through it all,
of course. But it says, Those that dwell at Jerusalem, the
rulers, they didn't know him. And though they found no cause
of death in him, they desired a pilot 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. Verse 30 says this, but God,
raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days by
those which came from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are the witnesses,
his witnesses, unto the people. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, good news, the gospel. how that the promise which was
made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled unto us their children
in that he hath raised up Jesus again. Thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee. Thou shalt not suffer thine holy
one to see corruption. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was
laid unto his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised
again saw no corruption. Now, be it known unto you. Be
that known unto you. Be that known unto you. He's
given us a Savior, Jesus. This Savior, Jesus, died, was
buried, and rose again, and never saw corruption. How's that possible? This Jesus
is God. His sacrifice was substitutionary
for us and sufficient for us. And by him we preach the forgiveness
of sins. He saw no corruption. The Lord
accepted fully and completely his sacrifice, what? For sins. For sins. And by this man is preached,
what? The forgiveness of sins. But not only that. and by him
all that believe are justified from all things from which ye
couldn't be justified by the law. You could not be justified by
the law of Moses. You understand? No man has ever
been justified by the law of Moses. Paul writes it somewhere
else. You that are under the law, don't
you hear it? It was given so that you might know you're guilty.
Guilty before God. Don't worry about being guilty
before man. You may be that too. But even
if you're not guilty before man, you're guilty before God. He's the one that has to be appeased. But here's the thing. He can't
be appeased. Sin's gotta be paid for. Sin
has to be paid for. There's a debt owed to God. And
this man, whom Paul preached, paid that debt in full. In full. So much so that ye are
justified from all things. So not only are sins forgiven,
you're justified. I remember coming up, they said,
oh, you know what justify means to me? Just as if I'd never sinned.
Well, that's true. As long as you understand this
part. It's just as if I'd done everything right. You understand
to be justified is to be righteous in God's sight. And I'm gonna tell you something.
Being forgiven of sins is wondrous and gracious and marvelous, but
if you're not righteous, you're not gonna stand before God. There's no neutrality. You're either righteous, it's in Christ, it's not in yourself,
but you are either righteous or you are unrighteous. There
is no middle area, there's no fence to ride, Walter. By this man preached, we have
the forgiveness of sins, and he, he is our justification. He is our justification. What? From all things, which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses. And you know what that
is? That's all things. Because you couldn't get justified
by the law of Moses for anything. There's no way. The law of Moses
couldn't justify the smallest sin. But through this man preached,
you have the forgiveness of sins. And we are justified by his blood. I understand it says justified
by faith. And that's true. But never forget,
we are justified by his blood. Our believing doesn't make his
blood effective. Our believing is because his
blood is effective. You got to get the, you got to
get the horse before the cart. But then this last statement, so he be it known unto you, what's
he say next? You're justified. What's he say
next? Beware. Be it known unto you
and then beware lest that come upon you which is spoken of in
the prophets Behold ye despisers and wonder
and perish For I work a work in your days a work which ye
shall in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you Be it known unto you and beware
and behold. And Paul was quoting Habakkuk
one in five, one of those prophets. I'm not going to go there, but
here's the thing. This is the way the God of the
Bible works. He's going to work a work. and you'll either believe it
or you won't. But that doesn't change the fact
that he has worked a work. Understand God's thoughts are
not our thoughts. When God speaks, something happens. And I'll tell you this, Walter
and I talked about it, when God thinks something happens, If
God thinks it, it's so. If he says it, it's never. His word will never come back
unto him void. Whether we believe it or not,
whether we see it or not, what we have here is what we've been
told. This is the man we preach. This
is the man who is to be preached. He's gonna work a work and you're
not gonna believe it unless he gives it to you to believe it. That's harsh. No, that's grace. That's grace. You understand? I'm no better than anyone else
just because I believe this. And it's not because I was better
than anyone else that I believe this. The only reason I believe
the word of God is because of the grace of God that has been
given to me. I didn't deserve it, I wasn't
looking for it. What did Paul write in Romans?
He quoted Isaiah again. I am found in them that sought
me not. That was me, folks. I wasn't
looking for it. And I found him. And I can tell
you now how I found him. He found me first. You understand,
he goes out, he's a good shepherd, I was already his lamb, I was
already his sheep, I didn't know it. And he puts you up on your
shoulder, and guess what, he carries you to the fold. And
guess what, you're in the fold. I wasn't looking for him, but
he found me. And this is the way God works. No man can come unto me except
it were given him of my father. And from that, many of them walked
away. Many who had been following him
walked away. Only this man has forgiven sin. Only this man has justified believers. And only this man is to be preached. Only this man is to be believed. Those that despise, isn't that
what it says? Behold, ye despisers. Those that despise don't believe
Moses and the prophets. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that.
And he said it outright and he said it in an account he told.
Those that despise don't believe Moses and the prophets because
those that despise don't believe this man preached unto you. And those that despise will wonder
and perish. Through this man, the man, Christ
Jesus, is preached the forgiveness of sins and the justification
of those that believe him. He is preached to men and brethren. I can tell you this. Men won't have him, but the brethren
will. The brethren will. In Acts 28,
verse 23 and 24. 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. This is the Apostle Paul
again. Persuading them concerning Jesus,
both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets. from morning till evening, verse
24, and some believe the things which were spoken and some believe
not. Question is, will you believe? Do you believe him? Because our
Lord Jesus Christ is to be believed. He's never lied to us, told nothing
but the complete unvarnished truth, whether you like it or
not. And that goes for believers too.
There are some truths which are hard to be understood. But by his grace, understand
and believe him. Believe him. This man is preached. And this man is to be believed,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, thank you for this
time, this place. Help us to believe you. Give us the grace. Help us to
grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your gospel. Help us to understand, help us
to grow. And we'll give you all the praise
and the honor and the glory for it is your work. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.