Turn back to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. The title of this message is God
sent the gospel to you. Unto you is the word, he said,
of this salvation sent. That's an astounding statement. If you consider who God Almighty
is, if we would just for a while consider who sent the gospel,
who sent this good news to us, this message of redemption, this
message of mercy and grace to sinners, if we could see ourselves
as God sees us, we'd be amazed. Amazing grace would really take
on a whole new meaning if we could see it. We can see ourselves
as God sees us. Sinful. We don't like to think
that way, do we? By nature. I know by nature we
don't like to think like that. We like to think we're pretty
good. But God tells us in the Scriptures who and what we really
are. And then we see the amazing grace
of God and that He sent the Gospel to us. No one ever hears the
gospel by accident. No one. Now Paul gave the Jews
in Antioch of Pisidia a brief history lesson to show them that
God had fulfilled his promise. God is a faithful God. Hath he not said and shall he
not do? If God has given a promise You can bank on it now. You can
stake your life on it. If God has given a promise, you
can stake your life on it. He's going to fulfill that promise.
God gave this promise. And He said that God has fulfilled
His promise in raising unto Israel a Savior. He promised a Savior. He promised a Messiah. And He
has fulfilled His promise. He has raised unto Israel a Savior. And His name is Jesus. We know His name. Jesus, that
one that was despised and rejected of men. That one whose face was
spit on. There was a lot of movies on
last night about Christ and His death and resurrection. I don't
know how many I saw last night on. But God has raised unto Israel
a Savior. Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ. And then he tells them in verse
24 that God has sent them a forerunner. He was prophesied of, that God
said he would send a forerunner. He would prepare the way of the
Lord. And his name is John the Baptist. And they believed that
John the Baptist was a true prophet of God. They believed that. And Paul says, well, John's business
was to point out the Lamb of God. The whole existence, and
this really applies to us too, but the whole existence of John
the Baptist, the only reason that he came into this world
was to say to Israel, behold the Lamb of God, which takes
away the sin of the world. The whole existence for any of
us is for Christ. It will either be to the praise
and glory of His grace, or it will be to the praise and glory
of His justice. But all things were made by Him and for Him. And he says God sent a forerunner,
John the Baptist, and they believed he was a prophet. And his prophecy,
his message was Christ. It was Christ. And he says there
in John 1, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
They needed it. We need it. The heart must be prepared to
receive Christ. The good ground must be plowed
before the seed is sown. And he preached the baptism,
it says, of repentance. Repentance is to change one's
mind or opinion. I mean, really, there's a real
change, a real inward change of the heart about Christ, about
God, about sin, and especially about myself. I really see who
I am. I really do mourn. I don't always
have to have tears flowing down my face, but there is a real
mourning over sin in the heart. There is. There's a real mourning
over sin. And he came and he preached the
baptism of repentance. They had let the worship of God
degenerate. God help us not to do it here.
Degenerate into outward form. It's Sunday. It's Wednesday. It's time to go to church. Well,
there is a time to meet together, but I want our meeting together
to truly be a worship service, not a religious service, but
truly as God's family to worship God in spirit and in truth. They had let it degenerate into
outward forms and the keeping of commandments, listen, of the
elders. Well, they thought, well, we
just throw some stuff in there that we like. We'll just kind of mix
some stuff. You know, it's like when I sit
down to eat, I salt my food before I taste it. I mean, I don't even
taste it. Every time I sit down, I salt
the food before I taste it. And that's what they were doing.
They were salting. They were putting it in what
they liked. And he said, you're teaching for doctrines, the commandments
of men. God didn't give you these things.
And that's what it degenerated into. God help us not to let
that happen here. And then he preached repentance
because it shows a real heart work. Christ is not in those
whose heart has not been broken over sin. He's not in the heart
where it's not been broken over sin. And then it shows a real
knowledge of sin And it shows a real need of Christ. You show
me a man who's broken over sin, and I'll show you a man who really,
or a woman, who really needs the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone
that said that needed healing, He healed everyone that needed
it. John did not come to brag on
them. If you want to talk about Viv
Kluth, politically incorrect. Boy, he was. He was a ruff. Came right out of the desert.
He was a ruff. Ruff around the edges. But he
told the truth. He came and he told the truth
to Israel. He pointed out their sins and
their need of a Savior. And he said, behold the Lamb
of God which takes away the sin of the world. There's your hope.
Israel, there's your Savior. God's fulfilled His promise.
He's fulfilled. And then it says in verse 25,
John fulfilled his course. He said he fulfilled his course.
He fulfilled his race. That's what he fulfilled. He
fulfilled the very purpose that God called him into this world
for. We all have a race to run in
this life. A prescribed course. Paul said,
I have fought a good fight and I've kept the faith. I've run
the course. I've kept it. And I pray God
to enable us to continually run this race and fulfill the course
He's given us here. I do. Then when John fulfilled
his course, he asked them, who think ye that I am? John made
it very clear that he was not the Christ. I am not the Christ. I am not the Messiah. He would
not allow them to even entertain that thought of Him being the
Messiah, of Him being the Christ. He said, I'm just a voice. That's
all I am. That's all I am. That's all frank. When you stood up here, we're
just a voice. But what a voice. A voice of truth. A voice of
mercy. God's voice. God speaks through
His preachers. God spoke through John the Baptist
to Israel. But he said, I'm just a voice. Then he says in verse 25, But
behold, there comes one after me. See, I'm just a voice. I'm
just here temporarily. I'm just for a little while.
But there's one coming after me whose shoes of his feet I'm not worthy. And they thought
highly of John the Baptist. He's a prophet. They believed
he was a prophet. They knew him to be a prophet. And he said,
I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie his shoes. That's true humility. That's
true humility. I'm not worthy. John points out
the coming of Christ. And he says here, there comes
one after me of whose shoes I'm not worthy. But notice this,
he says, He's saying to them, He's coming after me. I'm the
last one. The next one is Him. He's near
to come. That's what He says in verse
25. He's near to come. He's coming
after me. I am the last one. Now, the next
one that comes is the prophet. The next one that comes is the
Messiah, the Savior. That's who He is. And he points
out his dignity when he says, I'm not worthy to unloose his
shoes. This one who is to appear shortly
is of a higher order than me. John was a prophet, but John
was a man, just like me. Just like me and you. He's born
of this flesh. He was born of this flesh. But
there's one coming after me, this one that comes right after
me when he points him out. This one is a son of God. This
is no ordinary man. I'm not talking to you this morning
about an ordinary man that God raised from the dead. This is
the Son of the living God. That's who He is. And John wisely
took the attention off himself and he put it on to Christ. I
hope when you leave here this morning that you think more of
Him than me. If not, I've failed. John said,
He must increase and I must decrease. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you that feareth God, among
you Gentiles, this is to the Jews and to the Gentiles, that's
who he's speaking to, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. Well, that ought to make you
get on the edge of your seat, shouldn't it? That should make
us lean forward and say, oh, tell me about it. Tell me about
this salvation. God Almighty, the living God,
has sent from heaven the word of this salvation to you. God sent the testimony of the
promised Messiah to you. You know how many people have
come and gone, lived on this earth and died, and have not
heard what you heard? It's countless numbers, billions,
and have not heard have not had the Word of God that we have.
We have this Bible. This Bible is in every house
pretty much throughout this country. The Word of this salvation sits
on a lot of people's desks and coffee tables. But God has sent
it to you. He sent you a preacher like He
sent John the Baptist, the forerunner, and He sent it to you. The Word
that promises forgiveness. Does anybody need forgiveness
of sins? Oh, if I could just find somebody
that needs forgiveness of sins, well, I need it, and there's
somebody out here that needs it. To you is the word of this
salvation, of forgiveness and mercy and pardon that's sent
to you. God sent it to you. It's the
word of salvation, and listen, and not condemnation. God Almighty
could justly condemn me He could justly send me to hell because
of who and what I am, and be a just God and a Savior, and
the whole host of heaven will say hallelujah when he does it. But he sent the word of salvation
and not condemnation. It is the word that describes
and declares whose salvation he is, Jesus. God has raised
unto Israel a Savior, a Messiah, and his name is Jesus. He declares who salvation is
and who it's for. Sinners. We ought to find a sinner. Those Pharisees and scribes,
they were offended because he ate with publicans and sinners. Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners when he could eat with us? That's their attitude. Their attitude. He could be eating
with us good people instead of those publicans, those tax collectors,
those extortioners, those harlots, those adulterous. Look at the company he keeps. I'm glad he does. I'm glad he
keeps such company. That lets me in the house. That
lets me in the house. And listen, it is sent to you,
the gospel was not sent to you by accident. You are not here
by accident. I did not go over to my father
and mother's house 28 years ago just to eat supper on a Sunday
and he said, that man, Henry was preaching on television,
he said, now that man is preaching the gospel. That was not an accident. That was order of God. You know, sometimes we receive
mail by accident that's not ours. We get it out of the shop. Most
of the time, there's a beauty shop up above us. We get her
mail, and then sometimes she gets our mail, and sometimes
we get the people's mail down below because a substitute comes
in and messes it all up. But sometimes we receive mail
by accident that's not ours. But the gospel never comes this
way. It never comes this way. It goes
exactly to the person and to the heart that God sends it. You notice He didn't say the
word of this salvation is sent to us. He made it personal, didn't
He? I can say it to you. To you. It goes exactly to the person,
to the heart that God sends it. And it never returns void. Look
over in Isaiah 55. We've read this many times, and
we need to read it many more times. In Isaiah 55, 11, let
me read verse 10. For as the rain comes down, and
the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth,
and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to
the sower, and bread to the eater, and I'm sure glad it does. I'm
sure glad it accomplishes the purpose God sent it for. I'm
glad the rain does its job so you and I can eat. So shall my
word be that goes forth out of my mouth. Now, I tell you this,
if God sends the gospel forth this morning, even though you
hear me speaking and you read the word, it's coming forth out
of His mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the things whereto I sent it." Whatever it is this
morning, whatever purpose God sent it for this morning, I promise
you it will be accomplished. It will be accomplished. It will
never return to sinner. Never. And then it's sent to
you on purpose. If God intends to save you, let's
get this down to personal. If God intends to save you, He
will send the word of this salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, His
death, His life, His righteousness, His person, everything about
Him will be sent to you. And it will penetrate the heart.
And then when you learn of Christ, then you'll learn of the Father,
then you'll learn of the Holy Spirit. You can't learn of them
until you really know Him, because He's the key of knowledge. He's the key of knowledge. It's
through knowing Him that we know the Father and the work of the
Father. We know the Holy Spirit and the
work of the Holy Spirit. It's through knowing Him. And He sends it,
and it'll be concerning Him. And to some, listen, to those
whom he sends it to, it'll be a saver of life unto life. But
others, the wayside hearers, the stony ground hearers, those
who receive it among thorns, it'll be death unto death. It'll
add to condemnation. The gospel is sent to, he said,
to you. But there'll be others sitting
around hearing it. There'll be others sitting around listening.
Wayside heroes will be sitting right, they'll be sitting by.
They'll be sitting by the wayside. And to them it'll be, it'll be
death unto death. But to you, to you it's life
unto life. Real life. And then it's sent
to you providentially. Providentially. God orders all
our steps in this life. He orders all of our steps. Our
steps are not accidental. Our steps are not accidental.
The Scripture teaches us, it says, the steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord. Well, a good man is that man's
in Christ. And he's in Christ before the foundation of the
world. God chose us in Christ before the world began. He made
us righteous in Christ even before the world began, or He couldn't
have anything to do with you. And it's sent to you providentially.
And in His time, in God Almighty's time, He crosses your path. Just like He did Saul when he
was going down to Damascus, and God stopped him right there. He crosses our path with this
word of salvation. concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know what? We find it to be just what we
need. We find it to be just what we need. When He gives a conviction
of sin and He gives a repentant heart, we find Christ to be just
what we need. And this word of salvation is
sent to you and it's sent to you in power. Look over in 1
Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians 1, look here in verse 5. For our gospel,
that is the word of salvation, came not unto you in word only, but also in power. God sent it
in power. You who have experienced it,
you know what he's talking about. You know the effect it had on
you and has on you. Not just had on you, it has on
you. It came in power. And in the Holy Ghost, He's the
one who brought it in power. And in much assurance. And you
know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. And
you became, here's what happened, you became followers of us. and
of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost." But it came to you in power. Every time
God saves a man or woman, when He saves them, the gospel comes
in power. He pricks the heart. And you're
not the same anymore. You're not the same anymore.
And He sent it to you personally. He says, sent to you. sent to you. That ought to make
us leap for joy, shouldn't it? When the gospel is preached,
that ought to make us leap for joy that God would send such
a word of salvation to such a wretch like me. Such a wretch like me. And then what indebtedness this
puts us into the grace of God. Oh, what debtors we are. Paul
said, not to the flesh to live, not to this flesh. but to the
grace and mercy of God. We are debtors to God's grace. And what hopefulness, what hopefulness
we should have in Christ when God sends the gospel to you.
I want you to look over in Judges chapter 13. Judges chapter 13. And verse 22, listen to this,
Judges 13 verse 22, And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall
surely die, because we have seen God. God has appeared to us,
and we are going to die now. Oh, look at the wisdom of this woman.
She had more sense than he had, didn't she? But his wife said
unto him, The Lord taught that woman something. If the Lord
were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering
and a meat offering at our hands. I tell you this, if the Lord
was pleased to kill us, Christ would not have died for you. That's why there's no one in
hell for whom Christ died. Read that again. If the Lord
were pleased to kill us, if he were pleased to condemn us and
damn us, He would not have received that burnt offering and a meat
offering at our hands. Christ is our offering. He wouldn't
have received that if he was going to, he wouldn't have sent
the gospel to you. Neither would he have showed
us all these things, nor would at this time have told
us such things as this, if he was going to kill us. Oh, what
hopefulness that gives. When the gospel was preached
and the gospel was sent to you. What joy should fill our hearts?
And then what responsibility? What responsibility? It was sent
to you. Let's not be like Felix. First
thing I thought of was Felix. Over in Acts 20 something, I
didn't write it down. He heard Paul preach. And this
man, it says, trembled. This man actually physically
stood there and trembled when Paul preached the gospel to him. And he said, Paul, go your way.
And when it's more convenient, when it's a more convenient time,
I'll call for you. You can tell me about this again.
Well, it never happened then. What responsibility over when
God sends the gospel to you? And then he says here in verse
27 through 29, and I'll wind this down, that God sent that to you is
the word this salvation sent for they that dwell at Jerusalem
and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices
of the prophets. They heard their voices, but
they didn't know. who they were preaching. They didn't know the
one they were preaching. Which are read every Sabbath
day. They read the Word of God that we have. The Old Testament. And they have fulfilled them
in condemning Him. They fulfilled the Scriptures
in condemning Him. The reason God has sent the Gospel
to you and to us Gentiles is because they rejected it. And
He's sent the Gospel to you. Look over in verse 46. Verse 46 of that same chapter.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary
that the word of God should first be spoken to you, the Jews, but
seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Now the gospel
said to you, you Gentiles. Now he says in verse 29, and
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, and they
didn't know they were doing that, Did they? They didn't flip pages
and say, well, this is what we're supposed to do today to him.
They did what their wicked hearts wanted to do, and in doing that,
they fulfilled everything that was written of him. And when
they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him
down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. When it was finished,
our Lord cried, it's finished. And when he said that, he gave
up the ghost. They took him down from the tree.
They laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead. This man, this Jesus, this Savior
that Israel has looked for and waited for and was put to death
by those Jews. He said God raised him from the
dead. He is not dead. He is not dead. Is this not our
hope? our risen Lord. He died for us,
but it says He rose again for our justification. And there are many witnesses
to this truth. We're not making this up. This is not a story
that we are making up. This is the God's truth. God raised Him from the dead.
There were many witnesses that saw Him And we declare unto you
good news, glad tidings, how that the promise which was made
unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children,
in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written
in the second psalm. Notice how he connects the name
Jesus here to the Son of God. Thou art my Son. This day have
I begotten thee. The death of Christ was not a
tragedy. That was not a tragedy. Paul
says that's good news. That is good news to sinners.
Because the only hope I have is in Him. In His life, in His
death, in His resurrection, in His very person. That's our hope. That's not a tragedy, that's
good news. That is good news. And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. All that belongs to Christ. David
was the imminent picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says now. Those promises that God made.
Called the sure mercies of David are yours in Christ. Sure mercies. sure pardon, sure forgiveness,
sure cleansing, sure life, a sure salvation. Those are the sure
mercies of David, and God has given them to you in Christ. We have them. These sure mercies
belong to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is glad tidings,
and this is the word of salvation That is sent to you. God has
sent the gospel. I'll finish up the rest of this
next week. I really wanted to look at verse 29. It says, And
by Him all that believe are justified from all things in which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. I really wanted
to deal with that by itself. But God has sent the gospel.
I sat in my study as I looked at this, and I thought I wish
I could I wish I could preach this as it ought to be preached. Such a gospel deserves good preaching,
doesn't it? Such a gospel deserves good preaching. The more I sit
in my study and the more I do this, the more that thought just
keeps going over and over my head. It deserves the best we
can give it. The best we can give. Such a
gospel. God sent this gospel to you. We are among the most blessed
people that have ever walked on the face of this earth. And
in a little while, we'll find it out. Like you said, in a little
while. In a little while, we're going
to be amazed. We are going to be amazed. And
we'll sing amazing praises like it ought to be sung. OK, sister.