Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Acts chapter 13. We're gonna read a rather lengthy
portion here. Acts chapter 13. The name of
the message is Justification by Christ. Justification by Christ. We're gonna read from verses
15 to 42 of Acts chapter 13 to see the context. of the verse which we'll look
at today. Acts 13, starting in verse 15. And 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. 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 an high arm bought he
them out of it. And about the time of 40 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 450 years until Samuel the prophet. And afterward, they desired a
king. And God gave unto them Saul, the son of Sis, a man of
the tribe of Benjamin by the space of 40 years. And when he
had removed him, look at that, God removed him. God's the one
who sets up kings and princes and presidents and prime ministers.
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, the son of Jesse, a man after mine 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. When John had first preached
before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people
of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, whom think
ye that I am? I am not he, but behold, there
cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to
loose. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, in whosoever among you feareth God, To you
is this word of salvation sent. It's a sent word. It's sent. Sent by God. And 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, all that was written of Christ and
the law and the prophets, they took him down from the tree and
laid him in the sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead.
Who raised us from our spiritual deadness? God raised us from
our spiritual deadness, didn't he? The same power that was exercised
in raising Christ from the grave is the same power that raises
us from our natural dead state. And he was seen many days of
them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are
his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, all the Gospels, glad tidings, beloved, how that the
promise which was made unto the fathers God hath fulfilled the
same unto us as their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus
again, as it is also written in the second Psalm. Thou art
my son, this day have I begotten thee. And it's concerning that
he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption.
He said unto the wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. Where are the sure mercies of David found? Only in Christ,
beloved. Wherefore, he saith also in another
psalm, thou shalt not suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation, each of us
serve our own generation. You know that? In Christ, we
each serve our own generation. Isn't that amazing? We're called
out of our generation, right? And look at this, by the will
of God. Do you see God's sovereignty all through this as we're reading
this? His magnificent sovereignty is on full display, isn't it?
He raised up Christ from the grave. He raised Saul up. Then
he raised David up. He removed Saul and put David
in place. His sovereignty is on full display here. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on asleep. He died
at his appointed time and was laid unto his fathers and saw
corruption. But he whom God raised saw no
corruption. See, Christ was sinless in his
birth, sinless in his life, and sinless in his death. See, death
couldn't hold him. Death had no claim on Christ. That's why he raised from the
grave. had no claim on him, no corruption. Be it known unto
you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins, only in Christ, through this
man, through the Lord Jesus Christ. And by him, all that believe
are what? Justified from all things. Look at that. Look at
that. And by him, through Christ, all
that believe, all that believe on Christ, are justified from
all things. from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. So the law can never justify
a person. As we looked at in Sunday school,
all it can do is show you condemnation. But those ceremonies were all
pictures of Christ, weren't they? Point you to the one, there's
one coming, and now we see here, he's being proclaimed. And by
him, Christ, all that believe are justified from all things,
from all their sins. from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. The law couldn't save us. All
it could do is show us our sin. Beware, therefore, lest that
come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold, you
despisers in wonder and perish. For I work, look it, who does
the work here? For I work a work in your days. God's the one who
does the work. God's the one who does the saving.
A work which ye shall no wise believe, though a man declare
it unto you. How many people, as this message
goes out to all over the world, how many people just, some people
may hear it and just say, I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all.
They may hear somebody telling them, proclaiming Christ to them
and say, I don't believe that. Well, it's the truth. As I said
in Sunday school, we don't have to prove that Christ is the only
Redeemer. The Scriptures proclaim that.
We don't have to prove anything. The Scriptures declare who He
is. He's the only Savior of sinners. We don't have to debate with
people. We don't have to prove it because
the Scriptures proclaim it. And we know who the true author
of the scriptures are. It's God himself, God the Holy
Spirit. He's the true author. And when the Jews were gone out
of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought them that these words
might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Well, someone's
now got a hunger for the word. The Jews just stomped on out
of there. And here's the Gentiles going, can we hear this? Can
we hear more? Can we hear more? Can you tell us next week a little
bit more? Oh, do you think that they wondered
in anticipation about what they were going to hear? Oh, yes,
they did. The Holy Spirit's working on
them. They sure wondered. They sure wondered. Verse 39
will be our text, look at this. And by him, that's Christ, all
that believe are justified from all things from which he could
not be justified by the law of Moses. The damage that sin has done,
beloved, we will never fully understand. Because we're sinners from the
top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. Sin has wrought a terrible damage. And it's wide, isn't it? Because
there's none that's born that's not a sinner. It reaches far
and wide. Because we're sinners, our children
will be sinners. Christ is the only one who was
sinless. Absolutely perfect. He's the
seed of the woman. He's not the seed of men. We're
the seed of men. Adam. When Adam fell, we were
all in him. We fell with him. Sin's death-dealing bombs have
exploded in every human heart so that we come out of the womb
speaking lies. My oh my. There's not one who doeth good
and one, there's not one who sinneth not. We're all sinners
by, I like what Henry used to say, by birth, nature, and choice. People say, well, I don't believe
that. Well, the scriptures declare it. There's none righteous, no,
not one. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. We don't have to prove nothing,
beloved. That's what the scriptures declare. By faith, we believe
it, don't we? See, someone says, well, I don't
believe that. Well, God's not upset. He's not
up there wringing his hands thinking, oh, such and such doesn't believe
that. God is sovereign. God is almighty. God is angry with the wicked. My, oh, my. He's the great God. Anyone thinks about sin, the
truth is that sin has left an awful mark upon humanity. It has. We are fallen in Adam,
beloved. And sin has so infected us that
our thoughts are corrupted by sin. Everything we do is corrupted
by sin. Someone says, well, I'm not that
bad of a sinner. Well, look at your dreams. You don't want to just look at
the things we say, look at your dreams. Could you imagine if our thoughts
were exposed to the world for just 15 seconds? Just 15 seconds. Would anyone want to be around
us? See, sin has corrupted us. And
this includes everyone who comes into this world. The natural
man is in a state of both spiritual darkness and moral darkness. They call evil good. And they
call good evil. And we were there before the
Lord saved us. Sin has so darkened natural man's
mind that the things of God are foolishness to him. Think of that. Before the Lord
saved you, what did you think of the things of God? You may
have been raised in the church. You may have heard great gospel
churches proclaimed. But what did they really mean
to you? You may have been like others who never went to church. who thought the things of God
were foolishness. What do you think of them now
as a child of God? What do you think of the things
of God now? They're wonderful, aren't they? They're incredible. See, God's made you to differ.
God's given you an understanding of who he is and what sin is. and that the only remedy, the
only cure for sin is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ as a
great substitute. The sinless one, dying for sinners. He's the only hope. So look at man from the standpoint
of his affections. Man loves himself. Man loves
himself. Man looks out for himself. Scripture
declares, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are light.
Walk as children of the light. We're not to walk in the ways
we used to walk. We're to walk as children of light now, rejoicing
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the carnal mind is
enmity to God. That means hatred. There was someone who used to
attend here and they came up to me one time after I brought that
verse up. The carnal mind is enmity against God and not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And that person came
up to me and said, you said that that means hatred. And I said,
yeah, that's what the scripture says. That in the Greek it's
hatred. And they said, well, I never
hated God. I said, really? You never hated God? No, I never
hated God. I said, well, then I don't think
you know Christ. Because that's what the scripture
declares. See, the problem isn't the scriptures. The problem is
us. When we really see our sinful state for what it is, we will
take sides with God against ourselves. Scripture declares the heart
is deceitful. above all things and desperately wicked, who can
know it? So look at man in his first state, look at how we've
all transgressed the law of God. Look at what the scripture says
when it says, wherefore is by one man sin unto the world and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have
sinned. See, that's the bad news. Before we hear the good news,
we have to hear the bad news, don't we? The bad news is we
all fell in Adam. We all fell in Adam. Sin entered in the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned. That's what the scriptures declare.
If the natural man was in his right mind, such a condition
would make him miserable beyond words. But with a ruined mind, he walks
on the precipice of hell without knowing it, not caring about
anything. No care for God? Thinks everybody's
a worse sinner than they are? I'm talking from experience. Thought everybody else was worse. Suppose a man commits murder
and immediately loses his mind. The process of the law in his
indictment or arrest and conviction makes no impression on the fact
that he does not grasp the meaning of his sentence. And this is the way with the
sinner until the Holy Spirit opens his heart to the things
of God and convicts him of his sin and of our ruin and brings
before the convinced sinner the awfulness of sin and then brings
before the sinner Christ through the preaching of the word, through
the preaching of the gospel and how glorious it is. How glorious
the gospel is. If sin ruins the mind, then in
salvation there's given a sound mind, right? For God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind. Single-minded. Look into Christ. See, fear will
evaporate when we look to Christ. That's why I love that portion
that Brother Tom read, because it's so, God tells us, consider
the birds. One animal, just consider the
birds. They don't work, and yet our
Heavenly Father takes care of them. I walked out this morning,
they're just singing a storm. It's wonderful. Consider the flower, the lily.
It doesn't work, it doesn't toil, it doesn't spin, and look how
beautiful it is. Look how it's arrayed. Look how it's dressed. If it's dressed that beautiful,
how much more will God take care of us? If not even a sparrow falls to
the ground without the Lord knowing, how much more will he take care
of us? Think of how much a mother loves her children. I remember
when I was little, and my mom, she went through all my operations
together, everything. My dad had to work, but my mom
was there all the time. Six months in the cast at home,
from the tip of my toes to here, couldn't move. She took care
of me every single day. I never knew a love like that
until I got married and then saw the same thing happen.
And it's incredible. It's absolutely amazing. But
that love that my mom had for me and that your mom had for
you does not even touch the love that God has for his people.
Doesn't even come close. And think of how much a mother
cares for a child. I was watching Jill with Rowan. That little
guy, he's so dependent on his mama. She's got to dress him. She's got to put him down for
a nap. She's got to feed him. He has no ability to take care
of himself, does he? That's us, beloved. That's why
that passage is so sweet that Brother Tom read, because we
see God's providential care for his people. And he said, I'll
never leave thee nor forsake thee. He told us that. I'll never
leave you nor forsake you. I won't leave you alone. So think about the affections
of a man before he's saved. We drink sin-like water, don't
we? We have no care, and we don't even struggle with sin. Let's read our text again in
Acts 13, verse 39. Let's consider, our sin makes
us guilty before God, but those who are in Christ, those who
are born again by God the Holy Spirit, those whom Christ has
redeemed at Calvary's throne, those who have been granted faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, have all their sins forgiven.
Look at the marvel at this, and by him, by who? Well, who is
it speaking of? It's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's speaking of the God man. It's speaking of God
incarnate in the flesh. He's not like us. You remember
when he touched the leper and he wasn't defiled? It's because
he's sinless, because he's God. Now, if we touched the leper,
we'd be defiled. My oh my, but he's not defiled
at all. He's perfect, he's sinless. Look
at what it says, and by him, so that's Christ, the God-man.
All that believe are justified. Well, the Greek word there for
justified, do you know what it means? It means to render righteous. To render righteous. Now, can
we render ourselves righteous? Not at all, can we? Scripture
says, again, and we don't argue with it, we just believe it.
All our righteousness are like filthy rags in the eyes of the
Lord. But here the scripture says, and by him, that's Christ,
all that believe. Here's a question for you. Do
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? I don't just mean believe that
he actually came to this earth. I mean, is he your everything?
Is he your all in all? Is he your savior? Are you resting your eternal
soul upon him who is the only savior of sinners? Because if
you are, it says here that you've been rendered righteous. You could never make yourself
righteous, but God has made you righteous, and by him all that
believe are justified, all that believe are rendered righteous.
From what? From all things. From all things. It also means this, the word
justified in the Greek also means to show, to exhibit, to reveal
one to be righteous. to show, to exhibit, to reveal
one to be righteous. We cannot make ourselves righteous. But the scriptures here declare
that all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are made righteous. Do you feel righteous? I don't
feel righteous, do you? I feel like I'm a sinner. But this is enough for debate,
is it? Just because I feel like I'm a sinner because I am a sinner,
this portion of scripture says all that believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ are rendered righteous. Martin Luther used to say feelings
come and feelings go, right? But feelings can deceive us,
right? But look at this. All that believe
are justified. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? I pray that if you do not, that God will make it so
that you give your faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It
also means this, to declare, pronounce one to be just. One
to be just. Do you feel just? No, we don't feel just, do we?
But the scriptures declare we are. Isn't that wonderful? And it's God, we saw in the passage
when we read the passage, it was God who was doing all the
work, wasn't he? See, context of the verses is so important.
That's why I read that. I know it was a long portion,
but that's why I read that. Because all through that we see God working.
He says, I've done this and I've done this. And now the scriptures
declare, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, that all
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are justified from all
things. Rendered righteous. Goes to declare to pronounce
one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be. Well,
how can we as sinners stand in the presence of God. We must
be made righteous, right? We must be made righteous to
be able to stand in the presence of God. And marvel at what this
verse says. God's people are made righteous.
And does this say that all that bleed are justified when they
get to heaven? Because, you know, you just might
mess up and out you go. No, it doesn't say that, does
it? This is cause for great rejoicing. It says all who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ are justified from all things. That means right
now. I'm looking at folks who profess
Christ that are justified in God's sight. Isn't that wonderful? That's amazing. That's the best news for a sinner,
isn't it? We can't justify ourselves, we can't make ourselves righteous,
but here it declares that we're rendered righteous. And that's
all by God's power, beloved. This is good news. And to justify
a sinner, to make us righteous in Christ is an act of God's
free grace and mercy. Do you know that? The fact that
we are made righteous, rendered righteous in Christ is an act,
a display of God's mercy and grace. In each one of us who
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of God, In his regenerating
power, it all comes about because of
the free grace of God. He freely pardons the sinner
in Christ. He does it. We can't pardon ourselves,
we can't pardon anyone else, and it says here that he justifies
him in Christ. notwithstanding all our unworthiness
and all our transgressions, the scriptures declare, right here
in this verse, and by Him all that believe are
justified, are rendered righteous. We'd just sit here, couldn't
we? And just think about that for a while. Let that sink into
your soul, beloved. Let that just fill you with joy.
Because this is not, I'm just the messenger. This is what the
Word of God says. This is what God's Word proclaims. And by Him, all that believe.
Do you believe on Him? All that believe are justified,
are rendered righteous from all things. That means all things. Well, the law had a claim on
me, but no, no. But the wrath of God says my
sins deserve death. Yes, they do, and Christ dies
in my room in place. And because of what he's done,
We are justified. We are justified. God delivers
the born-again blood-washed saint himself. God does this. Christ is God incarnated in the
flesh. He delivers his people from their sins. He saves his
people from their sins. He saves us from the guilt of
sin. We can carry a great weight with
the guilt of sin, but remember, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. Live in that freedom, beloved. When Satan whispers in your ears
about your sin, live in the freedom that we have in Christ. Flee
to him, continuously, just keep going to him. We don't just come to Christ
once and say, okay, I'm good, I punched my time card, I'm good
now. We keep coming to Christ, don't
we? That's why it says, let us boldly
come to the throne of grace that we may obtain grace to help in
time of need, grace and mercy. We continuously go to our King,
don't we? And God the Father, According
to this scripture here, God the Father accepts the blood-washed,
born-again saint in Christ. And thus the believer is blessed
with being justified before God. Isn't that amazing? We are now
able to be in the presence of God. When we die and depart from
this world, we go immediately to be in the presence of God.
But right now, while we're here on this earth, while we're struggling
with sin each and every day, we're justified. And God doesn't
unjustify us. Isn't that wonderful? He doesn't
say, well, you know, I made a mistake. I made a mistake. God doesn't
make mistakes. When God saves a person, he does
that on purpose. God has this church here for
his purpose. I was sent here to preach the
gospel by God's purpose and grace and will. Isn't that amazing?
We were all brought together by the purpose of God. He did
this all on purpose. He saved you on purpose. It wasn't
by accident. Isn't that wonderful? It wasn't
by chance or luck. It was on purpose. Isn't that amazing? You are who
you are because God purposed you will be who you are. Think
of that. Think of where we were before
the Lord saved us, and then he saves us, and then he brings
us into a gospel fellowship. And he allows us to enjoy the
company of other believers, rejoicing in the same gospel that we believe. And he does it on purpose. And
each one of you is chosen out of your generation, just like
I'm chosen out of my generation. Like we saw with David, David
served his generation. And that's all on purpose. Marvel at that. When you get
down, sometimes we go through and we get down sometimes, don't
we? Marvel at the fact that despite our unworthiness, despite our
sinfulness, God chose us on purpose. God saved us on purpose. We're
justified on purpose. Isn't that amazing? You talk about mercy. And God accepts us only because
of the finished work of Christ. Only because he died as our substitute. And we saw he was raised without
corruption. And now he's seated at the right
hand of the Father, right? King of kings and Lord of lords.
That's our Savior. That's why we're justified from
all things. Because you know why? God justified
us. We can't justify ourselves or
anybody else, but for God's people, we are justified by God. That's cause for rejoicing. Turn,
if you would, to Galatians. Galatians chapter three. Galatians
chapter three. Justification is the opposite
of condemnation. The justified man is not condemned,
and if not condemned, will not be punished. Because Christ was, the wrath that was due us, fell
upon our Savior in our place. That's the marvel of this justification. We're justified by another. We
can't justify ourselves, but God himself has justified us. We're justified by God. That's
why no one can lay a charge to God's elect. You know how the
scripture says that? No one can lay a charge to God's
elect. You know why? Because it's God who justifies.
Just think of that. Now we can lay a lot on our own
stealth, can't we? God's justified us, beloved.
We've been rendered righteous. Isn't that amazing? You know
why? Because we're clothed in that perfect, spotless righteousness
of Christ. Look at here in Galatians. Galatians
chapter three, verses one to nine. Look at this. O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Now, they had been led astray by the Judaizers, people who
said you must be circumcised to be saved, along with faith
in Christ. See, they're adding something
to the finished work of Christ. This only would I learn of you.
Received ye the spirit by the works of the law? And look what
he's bringing forth here. Are you born again by the works
of the law? Well, we know the answer, right?
It's no. Or by the hearing of faith? Well, we're born again
by the hearing of faith. God gives us, he regenerates
us. He gives us faith to believe,
right? Are you so foolish having begun
in the Spirit? Now look at this. Are you now
made perfect by the flesh? Look at that. What a contrast
there. You see what he's bringing forth?
He's saying that you were born again of the Holy Spirit of God,
and now you're trying to finish your, what he, remember, God's
the author and the finisher of our salvation, right? We're being
stones being made ready. were being conformed to the image
of Christ, the scripture says. He's saying to them, well, the
Holy Spirit is conforming you. Are you now doing that work? By the supposed deeds of the
law? And then he says, have you suffered
so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? Have you suffered
for the cause of Christ, and now you're trying to add something?
to that which Christ finished? He therefore that ministered
to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you, doth he do
it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Oh my. Does God work because
people obey the law or does God work because he has compassion
on whom here of compassion? And here have mercy on whom here
of mercy? It's God's work, not ours. Even as Abraham believed God,
now there's the key. Now there's the key. Remember our text? And by him
all that believe are justified. You mean Abraham has the same
faith as I do? Yep. He believed God, didn't
he? Scripture says in our text, and
by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which he
could not be justified by the law of Moses. You see how important
it is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? It's absolutely
vital. He alone is the Savior. Even as Abraham believed God
and it was accounted to him for righteousness, he trusted God,
he trusted Christ. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham? In the scripture foreseeing that
God would what? Justify the heathen, well that's
what we're looking at today. That God would make righteous
the heathen, those who give faith to, that God would render righteous
the heathen. I'm a heathen, do you know that?
I'm a Gentile, so are you. Look at that. God would justify
the heathen, how? Through faith. Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by what? The word of God, amen. The word
of God. Preach the before the gospel
unto Abraham, what? Yep. Remember all those ceremonies
pointed to Christ? They were shadows. of he who
is the substance? Remember what we looked at in
Sunday school, the law condemns, but the ceremonies show Christ? My, oh, my. In the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations
be blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. Oh, it's incredible. I'm glad
it says the heathen there, though. I'm so thankful it says that.
It doesn't just say the Jews. See, God's elect are from every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, beloved. There are people that
no man can number. So justification is the opposite
of condemnation. Again, the justified man or woman
is not condemned, and if not condemned, will not be punished,
because Christ was punished in our place. That's incredible. Justification does not describe
any moral change brought in the sinner. Justification does not
make a man righteous, but it's a declaration that he is righteous
before the law of God. in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. The only way we are righteous is in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it's an operation of God,
beloved. Justification before God through
Christ delivers a man or a woman from the guilt of our sin. Not
from the presence away. But one day that'll come. One
day that'll come. Who is the author of this justification?
Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter eight. Who is the author
of this justification? Romans chapter eight. I stand before you a man who's
been justified by God. And if you're a believer, you've
been justified by God. Isn't that wonderful? Because
that's what our scripture said that we looked at, right? All
who believe on him are justified. We don't always feel justified,
do we? As a matter of fact, we hardly
ever feel like we're justified. But the scripture declares it.
It's not up for debate. It's not up for debate. Look
at this in Romans chapter eight, starting verse 28. And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. All things work
for our good. even the hard times, all things. To them that love God, to them
who are what? The called according to his purpose. Remember I said earlier, God
does things on purpose. For whom he did foreknow, and
notice this is all past tense, for whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? God Almighty all sovereign powerful
over the whole universe and every there's not a there's not a molecule
that doesn't move because Unless he commands it If he saved us Then we're saved
aren't we? If he's justified us then we're
justified Who shall condemn us then? Shall the law condemn us?
The law can't condemn us because we're justified in Christ. Can
other people condemn us? Well, they can look at us and
say, well, yeah, look at those guys. But the scripture says that just
falls on deaf ears. It does. What should we then
say to these things? If God before us, who can be
against us? And remember, this is the same passage in Romans
8, 1. It says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
spirit. And that means judgment. Why is there no, why won't there
be a big TV screen and all our past things will be played even
as believers? Why would that never happen?
Why is that a fabrication of man's imagination? Well, the
scripture right here tells us why. What shall we then say to
these things? If God before us, who can be
against us? If we're justified before God, then here never bring
our sins up to us again. Will he? No, because there is
therefore now no condemnation, no judgment to those in Christ
Jesus. who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. This is wonderful news. It gets
even better, though. Listen to this. He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? I was talking
to Vicki today, and our boy got the second shot, and he's not,
he's having a hard time. And I saw Vicki right away. You
know, it's Mother's Day. She's up, she's taking care of him
right away. And I thought, boy, you know, the love that a mom
has. for their children is just incredible. Love that dad has
too, but the love that a mom has is just, it's incredible. And later on we were talking
and I said, I know how I feel about Joshua being sick now and
I wish I could take his place, right? Because we always wish
that we could take that upon us, don't we? And I said, could you imagine
what it was like for the father to see his son dying on the cross? And this scripture says here,
he didn't spare them. Can you imagine? And then it says that Christ
cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And I
remember commentators saying, God, forsake God so that we would
never be forsaken. That's wonderful. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. That's all God's people. How
shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? That's wonderful. Now, people can lay things to
us, say, oh, well, I don't like how that guy talks, or I don't
like how he does things, or this and that. They can say whatever
they want. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. I stand before
you a man justified by God. And if you're a believer, you're
justified by God. Isn't that amazing? That's incredible. That's absolutely amazing. It is God that justified. There's
the reason why no one can lay any charge to us. Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. So God's the author of
this justification spoken of. Let's go back to our text in
Acts chapter 13, verse 39. He's the author of this justification. Acts 13, 39. And by him, that
being Christ, all that believe are justified from all things
from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. Why can't
we be? Judged, well, because God's justified
us. I ask you, who hear this message
here with us and who will hear it as it goes out, has God justified you? Have you been justified by God?
I didn't ask if you justified yourself,
because I could never be. Has God justified you? Only those
who are born again of the Holy Spirit of God, only those who
look to Christ by faith can draw comfort from this blessed verse
that we're looking at. This blessed truth of justification
before God. No sinner can justify themselves. The holy law of God must be satisfied,
right? Must be. Can you satisfy the
law of God? Can I satisfy the law of God?
Not in anything we do or say or think, right? Because we're
sinners from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. So we must look to the one who
justifies sinners. We must look to the one who's
spoken of in this verse and by him, all that believe are justified from all things. And the way of justification
is brought forth in this verse too. Scriptures declare that
the only way for us to be justified from our sins is God must justify
us. He must do it. If he doesn't
do it, we'll never be justified. Natural man always tries to justify
themselves by something they do. And I'll tell you what, it's
so subtle. It's so subtle, man can disguise
these things, thinking I'm going to do this
for God. But all along, they're doing
it for themselves, to be seen of man. My. We are to just rest and trust in our great
God. the only one who can justify
a sinner, the Lord Jesus Christ. And man's way of justification
is futile. It will lead to their eternal
doom. But God's ways are effective
ways. When God says that a man or a
woman is justified, then they are justified. And who are the
ones who are justified? Those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what our text tells us,
right? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you trusting him and him
alone for the salvation of your eternal soul? If you say no,
then you're not justified. If you're not born again, then
you're not justified. Because the Lord himself said
you must be born again. And it's God who must do this.
So what do we do then? Well, then we cry out with a
publican, don't we? God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And I'll tell
you what, if you cry that out, you're never going to stop crying
that out. If God gives you faith to cry that out, you're going
to cry that out for the rest of your life. The rest of your days, you're
going to cry out, God, be merciful to me. And you won't be looking
at anybody else and saying, well, that person's worse than me because
you know, As Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners. So the only way for us to be
justified is in and through Christ, and God must justify us. Do you
know that man's attempt to justify themselves actually destroys
God's justice? Because it overlooks their sin. It overlooks their sin. But God's
way, God's way of salvation honors His justice. You know why? Because it's satisfied. It's satisfied in Christ and
Christ alone. Now justification by works takes
a thousand forms, beloved. Some people say by their church
going or observing the ordinances or their character or their family
tree because their parents were Christians, well they're Christians. I've even heard people say they
were born a Christian. I never see that in scripture. Never
seen that yet in scripture. But people claim it. Or they
claim because they believe a certain way or certain doctrines or their
reputation or their honesty or the fact that they're sober and
others aren't. In countless other ways, that's
how man justifies themselves. And this justification in that
manner simply shows their blindness. Shows their blindness to the
things of Christ. Listen to what Job wrote. He
said, if I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall
also prove me perverse. Keep thee far from a false matter,
and the innocent and righteous slain thou not, for I will not
justify the wicked. And then listen to what it says
in the New Testament. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous,
heard all these things, and they derailed him. They derailed Christ. And he said, ye are they which
justify yourselves before man. You justify yourselves before
men, but God knoweth your hearts. He knows your heart. For that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. So God's way of justifying sinners
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ honors his justice and
honors his law. and marvel at this wonderful text that we looked
at today. God's people are rendered righteous
by a work of God. And no one can lay anything to
the charge of God's elect. No one can condemn us. I don't
care what they say. They may say the most awful things
to you, but it does not change the fact that God's people are
justified before God. And what do we say?