Acts chapter 22. Acts chapter
22. The name of the message is Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Now in the chapter before Acts 22,
Paul being advised by the brethren not to go up to Jerusalem, but
he persists and on his arrival he visits James. And soon after,
in chapter 21, Paul's arrested in the temple by the Jews, and
he is later rescued by the chief captain, and then Paul speaks
to the people. And this is where we will pick
up in Acts 22, verses 1 to 10, where Paul addresses the assembly
and relates the particulars of his conversion to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And for further reading at home
in this chapter you will see that he is interrupted by the
clamor of the Jews and he's again rescued by the chief captain
and he's conveyed into the castle. And the chapter ends where Paul
being bought before the council, which continues in chapter 23
in the book of Acts. So let's consider our text today.
We'll read Acts 22 verses 1 to 10. Men, brethren, and fathers,
hear ye my defense which I make now unto you, And when they had
heard that he spake in Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the
more silence, and he saith, I am verily a man which am a Jew,
born in Taurus, a city of Sisila, yet brought up in this city at
the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner
of the law by the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye
are this day. And I persecuted this way, meaning
he persecuted the Christians, which were called the way unto
the death, binding and delivering into prisons, both men and women.
It's no wonder that they feared Paul when they heard they didn't
quite believe that he'd been converted. Some of the Christians,
because he he says here he persecuted the way unto death. Binding and
delivering into prisons, both men and women. is also the high
priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders,
from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to
Damascus to bring them, which were bound unto Jerusalem, for
to be punished." They were grabbing Christians
and dragging them off to prison and punishing them just for being
believers. And it came to pass that As I
made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon,
suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me?" Who's Saul persecutin'? Believers. Our Lord here says,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou See the union between the head
and the body? Oh my. And I answered, who art thou,
Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou
persecutest. And they that were with me saw
the Indeed, the light and were afraid, but they heard not the
voice of him that spake unto me. And I said, What shall I
do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise
and go into Damascus, and there shall be told of the. Of all
things which are appointed for thee to do. I'd like to focus on three words
in Acts 22, eight, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Now, when
a man or a woman gives evidence of being awakened by God, the
Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, they are about to inquire, what must I do to be saved? What
must I do to be saved? And we have the answer from the
inspired words of Paul, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shall be saved. And today when people inquire
and ask the very question of us, what must I do to be saved,
the answer is still the same. And it ever will be the same.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. The
answer is so old that many think it's out of date. You ever heard people say, oh,
he was born thousands of years ago. And it's so simple that some
think, well, surely there's something I must do. Surely that's not enough. But God's law and justice is
satisfying. in the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. See, they don't know who He is.
He hasn't revealed Himself to them. And beloved, our Savior always will be fresh and new
in the only way to God. The only salvation is in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. No man can devise a better answer,
for the Scriptures declare this, He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. But he that believeth not on
the Son shall not see life. He that believeth not on the
Son shall not see life. But he that believeth on the
Son hath life. And let us remember, turn if
you would to Matthew chapter 1. Let us remember what the angel
of the Lord told Joseph about who the baby was that Mary was
carrying. Matthew 1. Verses 18 to 25. Now the birth of Jesus was on
the wise, when, as his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph,
before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. for he shall save his
people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted as God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from
sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife. And he knew her not till she
had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. Now turn one chapter over, if
you would, over in chapter 2. And remember, they fled to Egypt,
right? They fled to Egypt. In chapter 2, they fled to Egypt
in verses 13 to 15, then Herod kills the children in Bethlehem
in verses 16 to 18, and then let us consider verses 19 to
23. Knowing that our Lord is called Jesus of Nazareth in Acts
22.8, where we looked at in our text, look at this. But when
Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt. saying, Arise, and take the young
child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for
they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose,
and took the young child and his mother, and came into the
land of Israel. But when he had heard our Chickalists
did reign in Judea, in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid
to go thither. And notwithstanding being warned
of God in the dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee,
And it came and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth that
it might be fulfilled. Look at this, which was spoken
by the prophets. He shall be called a Nazarene. Now, remember what he said, what
he said. To Paul. I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom
thou persecutes. Now, Natural man has no idea
who Christ is. But in the Scriptures, the demons
know who He is. Turn, if you would, to Mark chapter
1. The Scriptures declare this. Mark chapter 1, verses 21 to
26. And they went into Capernaum,
and straight away on the Sabbath day, He entered into the synagogue
and taught. And they were astonished at his
doctrine. They were astonished. For he
taught them as one that had authority. Little did they know, he had
all authority and all power. They didn't know who he was.
Their eyes were closed. Their ears were stopped. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, Let
us alone! What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. They knew who
this Jesus of Nazareth was. And Jesus rebuked him, saying,
Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean
spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out
of him. What power, what power and authority our great God and
Savior has. And in Mark chapter 10, we know
blind Bartimaeus. Brother Jean-Claude preached
on that he was passing out, he cried out to him. Mark 10 verses
46 and 47. And they came to Jericho. And as he went out of Jericho
with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus,
the son of Timareus, sat by the highway side begging. And when
he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out,
say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on us, Jesus of Nazareth. So he was identified with this
name. And in heaven, the Lord still
says, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. Matthew
21, verses 10 and 11, it says this, and when he was coming
to Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying this, saying, who
is this? And the multitude said, this
is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. Do you know when Peter denied Christ,
it was said that he was with Jesus of Nazareth? Mark 14, verses
66 and 68, the scripture declares this. And as Peter was beneath
in the palace, there cometh out one of the maids of the high
priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon
him and said, and thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But he
denied saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch
in the cock crew. Do you know that the angel in
Mark 16 at the tomb identified him as Jesus of Nazareth? Turn,
if you would, to Mark 16. Mark 16. Verses 5 to 8. And entering into the sepulcher,
they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in
a long white garment, and they were flighted afraid. And he
saith unto them, Be not afraid, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He is risen, he is not here. Behold the place where they laid
him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth
before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him, as he
said unto you. In John chapter one, Philip found
Nathanael and saith unto him, We have found him of him whom
Moses And the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph. Peter preached in Acts chapter
10, salvation through Jesus of Nazareth alone. Turn if you would
to Acts chapter 10, verses 38 to 43. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good
and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with
Him. We are witnesses of all things, which He did both in
the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on
a tree. Him God raised up on the third day and showed Him
openly, not to all the people, but unto the witnesses chosen
before of God." Note that little precious nugget right there. even to us who did eat and drink
with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to
preach unto the people and to testify that it is He which was
ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. To
Him give all the prophets witness. To whom? Jesus of Nazareth. That
through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall what? Shall receive
remission of sins. Jesus of Nazareth that's why
I had brother Tim read that portion in Acts 3 to Acts 3 Verse 6 then Peter said silver
and gold have I none but such as I give thee in the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth Oh what power So let us consider our first
point. Who is Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Who is He? Beloved, He is the Christ, the
Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of His people from their
sins. The scriptures reveal that the
living God is a triune God, three in one, Father, Son, and the
Holy Spirit. And God said, let us make man
in our image. And there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
And in Scripture, in John chapter 1, it says, in the beginning
was the Word, that's Christ. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And then later on in verse 14,
it says, and the Word was made flesh, God with us, we saw that. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. They
looked upon Him. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. God sent His Son into
the world. The Word spoken of in John 1.1,
who was with God and was God, was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh, yet perfect and sinless. Made of a woman, made under the
law. And Christ Himself said this, I and the Father are one.
Who is He? Again, He said, He that hath
seen Me hath seen the Father. He's God incarnate in the flesh. To believe on Christ is to believe
that He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He says this, if ye believe
not that I am, Ye shall die in your sins. This is the same I am of Exodus. I am that I am. And then he told
the Jews before Abraham was I am. Jesus of Nazareth is not just
a messenger of God, not just a prophet as some folks say.
Well, he's a good teacher. No. He was the most excellent teacher. He is the preeminent one, but
he's not just the messenger of God. He's not a religious reformer. He's not just the prophet. He's
Immanuel. God with us. And we looked at this morning
in Sunday school, the very one who said, I am thy shield is
the one who now is incarnate. What did Jesus of Nazareth do? What did he do? Well, he did
what no man has ever done before. Or no man can ever do now. He pleased the father. Can you or I please the father
in ourselves? We're sinners. He's absolutely
sinless. He's done what no other man could
ever do. He pleased the father in heaven.
Paul said this, they that are in the flesh cannot please God,
Romans eight, eight. So if anyone says that they can
gain merit and favor with God, well, they're spitting in the
face of Scripture. Because the Scripture declares,
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Jesus of Nazareth was God incarnate
in the flesh, and He pleased God the Father. And God the Father
said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. in whom I am well pleased. He
pleased the Father, because though tempted in all points, He was
yet without sin." Tempted in all points and yet
without sin. The perfect, spotless Lamb of
God. He knew no sin, neither was guile
found in Him. He was sinless in His life and
He was sinless in His death. And He's our risen Savior right
now in Goliath. In the flesh He was subject to
the ceremonial law, the moral law, the law of the home, and
the law of the land, and the law of love. And He was tried
by Satan, and He was tried by man, and He was tried by God. because he fulfilled the law
in our place. And yet he's perfect. And the
verdict, the verdict is this. I find no fault in him. He said
Satan come, the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing
in me. He's got stuff in us. But the
Lord Himself said, He hath nothing in you. Perfect. Spotless. Not a sin in thought. Not a sin
spoken. Not a sin in deed. Nothing. Perfect. Spotless. We can't even imagine
that, can we? Because everything we do is tainted with sin. Everything. He's perfect. The perfect Lamb
of God. And having lived before God a
perfect life, being born and lived without sin, His work was not done. Why? Because
He must die. He must die for all those for
whom He represents, in whom He is numbered. They
deserve to die for their sin, right? We all deserve to die
for our sins. And here's Christ, the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God, and He must die as the substitute of
His people under the wrath of God. And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. He must be lifted up. He came to this world to die. He came to this world to offer
Himself up, a perfect, spotless Lamb for the sins of His people. And He willingly did it. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians,
chapter 15. Everything he did in his life,
in death, was according to the Old Testament Scriptures. Look
at 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1-4. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you. which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand, by which ye are saved, if ye
keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins
according to the scripture, and that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Christ died
for our sins. He came to this world to die
for the sins of His people, to redeem, to purchase His people. And He did it by the shedding
of His own precious blood. And He died. And He was buried. Now, every single religion in
this world who was started by a man, you can trace that religion
back to a man in the grave. But Christianity, the tomb is
empty. Because he rose. He rose for
our justification. He rose for our justification. And he was buried, and he rose
again the third day. Why? According to the Scriptures. According to the Scriptures.
He was betrayed, denied, despised, rejected, spat upon, nailed to
a cross between two thieves. The Father turned away from him.
He made his soul an offering for the sins of his people. He
was buried. And he rose again, all in the
place of his people. That the law and justice of God
might be satisfied for you who believe and for me. What a Savior. What a Redeemer. I love that
he fulfilled every type Every picture and every symbol set
forth in the Law of Moses, He fulfilled them all. All of them. To believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ is to believe that He is the Christ, the Redeemer,
who has fulfilled all things written in the Law of Moses and
in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Him. Why did Jesus of Nazareth do
these things? Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 3. Why did He do these things? Oh,
beloved, He did these things to declare the righteousness
of God, that God might be just in the justifier of him which
believes in Jesus. Romans chapter 3, verses 19 to 28. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.
Who's under the law? Every human being born into this
world. Right? Whether they believe it or not.
It saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped. No one can speak against God. And all the world
may become what? Guilt. guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. So all
these people that are trying to fulfill the law and say, well,
the law is the rule of life for me and all this, the scriptures
plainly declare here. Now, the law of God, Brother
Jean-Claude and Gary and I were talking about this. We love the
law of God. It's wonderful. But we've been
brought to the point by God where we know we can't fulfill the
law of God. But praise be to God, Christ fulfilled the law
for His people. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
He is. And it says here, therefore by
the deeds of the law there shall be no flesh to be justified in
His sight, in God's sight. No one can be justified by the
works of the law in God's sight. Because we're all sinners. We
all break the law. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe, for there is no difference. So the righteousness of God has
been manifested, and it's Christ. It's Christ. for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God." Look at this, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So the
verbiage here, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, there's
no other redemption except through Christ. There's no other way to be justified
before God except through Christ, because surely none of us can
fulfill the law. Have you ever, have you ever
stole something? Have you ever stole something?
We all have, right? So that means we're thieves.
Have you ever told a lie? That means we're liars. And we
could go on, couldn't we? We could go on. We've all broken
it. Being justified, being justified,
the believers clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness
of God. See, we can't be justified by
the deeds of the law. But we can be justified in Christ
and him alone. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth. Now God has a standard. How perfect do you have to be
to be in God's presence? I remember Henry saying this,
as perfect as God himself. We, as believers, have a perfect,
spotless righteousness that, as the old-timers used to say,
was woven out. I love that. Old preachers say
it was woven out by Christ when he was upon this earth. Whom God, so God has set forth
Christ to what? To be a propitiation through
faith, and faith is a gift from God. in his blood, without the
shed in the blood, there's no remission of sins to declare
his righteousness. God in the sacrifice of Christ
and accepting the sacrifice of Christ declares his righteousness,
declares his righteousness. To declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness, that he might be what? Just. God is a just
God, isn't he? His law is unbending, right?
The soul that sinneth, it must die. Christ, the sinless, spotless
sacrifice dies in our place as our substitute. So God, therefore God's law is
satisfied. That he might be just, a just
God, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. OK, then look at this. Where
is boasting that can we boast about this? We can't boast about nothing.
Because he did it all. There's no room for spiritual
pride. But but also I mentioned this
in Sunday school. We know we're sinners. We know
we are. We know we don't merit it. We know we're we're we know
we're depraved. But oh, let us lift our hearts
in joy. That Christ has redeemed us.
And he's had mercy on us. And he's had mercy on us. Where
is boasting then? It is excluded. You can't boast
in something you didn't do. It's excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law
of faith. Therefore we conclude, now look
at this verse here. Therefore we conclude, here's
the conclusion, that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that freeing and liberating
for God's people? Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law, because
Christ did it all in our womb and flesh. This is good news
for sinners. This is good news for those who
by the deeds of the flesh cannot fulfill the law. This is good news. He did it
all. And that's why he did these things.
That's why he died. That's why he lived the perfect
life. That's why he died upon the cross as our substitute,
that we might be justified before God. God is love and his love will
be expressed and manifested, but not at the expense of his
justice. not at the expense of his justice.
God is merciful and delights to show mercy, but not in a way,
not in such a way that his righteousness is compromised. No, the Lord
is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and by no means clear in the guilty. So if mercy
is shown to me, if mercy is shown to you, it must meet and satisfy
truth, right? It must. If peace is granted
to me and peace is granted to you, it must be in agreement
with God's righteousness, His holiness and His justice. Turn,
if you would, to Psalm 85. Psalm 85. If God accepts a man,
that man must have a perfect righteousness before the law.
He must have a perfect righteousness before the law. Psalm 85. verses 9 to 11. Surely His salvation is nigh
them that fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy
and truth are met together. Where was mercy and truth met
together? At Calvary's cross, in the death
of our blessed Savior. Righteousness and peace have
Kissed each other. Where did they kiss each other?
At Calvary's cross. We have peace with God. Peace
with God through the sacrifice of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Truth shall spring out of the earth. In righteousness
shall look down from heaven. Turn, if you would, to Romans
5.19. Romans 5.19. Again, if God accepts a man,
that man must have a perfect righteousness before the law.
And in Christ, believers have that perfect righteousness. For
in the flesh, he pleased God and honored the law for every
single believer, for every single one of his people, for every
single sheep that God gave him. Romans 5.19 says this, for by
one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. There's our
fallen Adam. Many were sinners by birth, nature
and choice. But look at the it doesn't stop.
Praise God. The verse doesn't stop there,
right? Because we'd be hopeless if it did. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Made righteous sinners. Made righteous. Yes. Yes. Christ, our substitute, in our
sin offering, died in our room instead, in our place, satisfying
fully all that God's justice required for us, for me, and
if you're a believer, for you. And we are now. Now, I know we
go through life and we sin, We know what we are, we'll look
at that tonight. The bride says, I'm black, and calmly, she knows
her sin. But scripture declares, and this
is where I have to rest. Scripture declares that we are
unblameable in his sight. Unapprovable in his sight. Isn't
that wonderful? Why? Again, because the believer
is clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. Holy and unblameable are his
people in his sights. In his sight, because our sins
have been paid for and by his strides, by Christ's strides,
by his death upon the cross, we are healed and God can be
just and he can completely justify all for whom Christ died. Isn't
that wonderful? That's good news. That's good
news for sinners. And the obedience and death of
Christ was not a display of His love and sacrifice to impress
man. It wasn't to impress man, but
it was unto the Lord Himself. He died unto the Lord. He died
unto the Father, before the Lord. And God was God in Christ reconciling
His people unto Himself. Isn't that wonderful? Now where
is Jesus of Nazareth right now? Turn if you would to Acts chapter
5. My, when God the Holy Spirit
regenerates us, He sheds the love of God in our hearts, doesn't
He? And we rejoice at these truths. Acts chapter 5, verse 30 and
31. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus whom He slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God highly
exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for
to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. He is
right now, right now. Having finished the work which
the Father gave Him to do, He is right now at the right hand
of the Majesty on High, interceding for us. He is our Great High Priest who
intercedes, the one mediator between God and man. It is He who is the Living Lord,
who has authority over all flesh, who gives eternal life to as
many as the Father hath given Him. And this eternal life is to know
by experience and to be taught of God that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. When we say we believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, we are confronting men with a living, sovereign
Lord. A living, sovereign Lord. Who is alive forevermore. Who
is reigning right now at the right hand of the Father. And
who has been given all authority now and forever. And who has been exalted and
installed there, placed there by the Father, by the way of
the bloody cross. And right now He rules and reigns. Right now, what peace that can
give the believer. The question for you who are
hearing is, do you believe? May God grant you faith. If you
don't, may God grant you faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And doubt shall be solved. Heavenly Father, we come before
Thee, seeing all through Scripture,
our Savior, how that He was on a mission. Lord Jesus, You came
here to redeem Your people from from our sins and how you came
here to die. But, oh Lord, it didn't end there.
You rose from the grave for our justification. Praise your mighty name. May
we leave here grateful, we who are redeemed, may we leave here
grateful in praising you that you are our shield and our defender
and that you, God, the Word became flesh to die for our sins. Glory to thee, Lord Jesus. It's
in your name we pray. Amen.