for him. I love that song. If you would turn with me to
the book of Acts, chapter 13. Acts, chapter 13. We'll be reading a good portion
of this text, but I want to start by looking at verse 26, Acts 13, 26. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you who feareth God, notice
these next words, to you is the word of this salvation sent to
you. To those of you that are here
this morning, it's not by coincidence. It is by divine providence that
you're here. The divine providence of God
Almighty. This morning To you is the word
of this salvation sent. Whether it's your first time
here or whether you've been here every Sunday, if you are yet
without Christ, today, to you, is the word of salvation sent. Some might say, well, according
to this text, this historical account, this message from Paul
of salvation was preached to the Jews. How can it be sent
to me? Well, the Jews rejected the message. Look over at verse 46 of the
same chapter. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it off, put it
from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles. So I don't think that I'm taking
this passage out of context when I say that to you. to you is
the word of the salvation sin." Now after your ears have heard
the word of salvation, will you like the Jews put it from you? The Jews put it from them with
wrath, with indignation and unbelief. And they said in their hearts,
I will not have this man rule over me. Oh, I pray that's not
the result of this word sent to you this morning. We do the same as they if we
make light of the seriousness of this gospel that we preach. get mad because of it. Men get
mad when they hear that God is sovereign. Men don't like the
thought that God is on His throne ruling and reigning and doing
all things according to His will and purpose. Men by nature don't
like that. Men like to have a hand in things, don't they, by nature. Oh, I pray that this doesn't
make you mad. If it does, you judge yourselves
unworthy, just like these Jews did. You see, God's people always
take sides with God against themselves. You can't offend a child of God
by what you call him. Do you know that? You can call
him a wretch, and he'll just smile and shake his head. You
can call him a maggot, a worm, and he'll say, that's what I
am. You can call him a sinner and that's almost a compliment
because he knows that Christ came into the world to save sinners.
You can't offend the child of God. Not with words or names. And we know, don't we friends,
we know that no man in and of themselves is worthy of everlasting
life. Nothing that we can do in and
of ourselves that merits God's favor towards us. Salvation is
a free gift of God. We spent pretty much the whole
half hour of Sunday school talking about the fact that salvation
is a free gift from God. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? What do you have that you haven't received? And if
you've received it, why do you glory in it? It's a gift of God. Saved by grace through faith.
That's not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And you know why the apostle
wrote that? Because man is going to boast. It's the nature of
a man to boast. Look what I did for God. I still,
I can't get that picture of that old Pharisee out of my mind as
he stood in the temple. There he was all up front, chest
sticking out. I'm sure I can just see him looking
up and saying, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like other men.
I thank you that I'm not like this publican back here. That's the way men are by nature.
They want to have something to do with their salvation. They
want it to be by works of righteousness that they've done. But that old
publican, oh, the one whom God had revealed Himself to, he stood
in the back and he had his head down. He said, Lord, be merciful
to me, a sinner. That's the attitude of a child
of God. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Oh, call him a sinner or just make him happy. Christ came into
the world to save sinners. And Paul said, of whom I am chief. Well, that man wrote most of
the New Testament. In his own eyes and own estimation,
he was the chief of sinners. And I dare say that it's so with
you. You'll sit here and you'll look around you and you'll say,
I can see how he might save him, might have mercy on him, but
me? I'm the chief. I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, if you hate the wonderful
message of the sovereign grace of God in Christ, dear friends,
you like the Jews, you pass sentence of judgment upon yourself. Men today, like the Jews, they're
determined not to be saved, I mean, because they despise the very
means of God's salvation. They're proud of their works,
their so-called righteousness. What is the means of salvation? Well, I suppose that would be
more correctly asked, who is the means of salvation? Salvation
is in a person. We talked about that in great
length this morning, too. There's only one way, one truth,
and one life. And all three of those are the
same person, the Lord Jesus Christ. How do I get to heaven? There's
only one way. What is the truth? Only one truth,
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What do you think of Him? There's
only one life, one life of everlasting life, and that is the Lord Jesus
Christ. What do you think of Him? Whose
Son is He? Does it mean anything to you? The Lord Jesus Himself said in
John 17, and this is life eternal. Now that would get my attention.
This is life eternal that they might know the only true God. He makes a distinction there.
Oh, there's gods everywhere. Gods of men's imaginations. Oh,
it don't take long in talking to somebody to know if they know
the same God you do. They start describing their God.
God's wanting and wanting to and pleading and begging. That's
not my God. You're describing a whole different
God. That's a God with a little g. That's a little g God. My God's in the heavens. He's
done whatsoever He's pleased. Now does that really mean that
God does what He pleases? That's what God's Word says.
He's done whatsoever He's pleased. In heaven, earth, below the earth,
in the deep places, everywhere God does as He pleases. But why
do men somehow think that doesn't pertain to salvation? Oh friends,
if I'm ever to be saved, it's going to have to be of the Lord.
It's going to have to be the Lord's doing. This is life eternal. You might
know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, whom
God has sent. The writer of the Gospel of John
said in his little letter to the churches, he said this, and
it's so plain, so simple. All the simplicity that's in
the truth of the Gospel. Not hard to understand. He said,
He that hath the Son hath life. Is there anyone here that doesn't
understand that? I'm not asking you if you believe
it. I'm asking, is that hard to understand? He that hath the
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's got life. What does it mean to
have Him? It means to love Him, trust Him,
depend on Him for everything, including your next breath. That's
having the Son, isn't it? That's me casting all my care
upon Him because He cares for me. Oh my, he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. The Jews by wicked hands had
crucified the Lord of glory. They hated Him, Scripture says,
without a cause. They loved the Law, but they
hated the One who gave the Law. They loved the law and they thought
they kept it, but they hated the one that fulfilled the law
of God for them. And friends, we will too if God
don't intervene. If God don't divinely intervene
in our lives, we will too. Look at the text again with me.
I want to read chapter 13, verse 26. men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you
is this word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at
Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the
voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they
have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no
cause of death in him, yet desired they pallet, that he should be
slain. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, they took him down from the tree,
and they laid him in the sepulcher." Look at verse 30, there's the
gospel again. But God, but God who is rich
in mercy, but God raised him from the dead. Verse 31, And
he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare
unto you 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. And it is also written
in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee. And as concerning that, he raised
him up from the dead. Now, no more to return to corruption. He said, on this wise, I'll give
you the sure mercies of David. That's what James read, wasn't
it? Give you the sure mercies of David. Whereforth he saith
also in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to
seek corruption. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, he fell on sleep, and
was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again
saw no corruption. And verse 38, "...be it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man..." Through
this man. "...is preached unto you the
forgiveness of sins." Now, are there any sinners here today?
If there are, This word of salvation is being sent to you right now. This man, through this man, is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. I'm speaking to each
and every one of you this morning personally, and I'm also speaking
to myself. While you're able to hear the
gospel, dear friends, I hope that you take heed to hear I often fear, like Paul, when
he said, when I've preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway. Oh, my. Don't think that just because
I'm standing up here, I don't have doubts and concerns and
that I don't look within and see my hopelessness. No, I'm not extinct from that. There may be a day which comes
soon when you're unable to hear the gospel preached. I know some
that have providentially been sent to where the gospel is not
faithfully preached. And then I think of those words
by Paul in 2 Corinthians that says, Behold, now, now, right
now is the day of salvation. None of us are promised tomorrow.
None of us are even promised this evening. Oh, I know I've
had many a friend over the years that woke up one morning and
went about their business and never saw the sunset that evening. None of us are promised tomorrow.
Today, now, is the day of salvation. Every week I stand before you
and preach with the hope that God may call another sheep into
the fold. That's why we're here. That God
might be merciful and call another one of His sheep home. And I
preach with the hope that God will cause you and I to see our
constant need of Christ. Those of you that have come already,
don't you see that you're still in constant need? I need Him
today. I need Him tomorrow. I need Him
every second of every minute of every hour of every day of
every week, month, and year. I must have Christ. May God help me to always preach
as if it might be the last time that I ever stand and preach
the truth. This is serious business. This
is urgent. This is urgent. Well, I've got two questions
for you and I hope that I'm able, in this message, to answer them
for you. What is the Word of Salvation
that's sent to you? What is the Word of Salvation?
It's that wondrous story of Jesus that we sung about earlier. Tell
me the story of Jesus. The story that Jesus Christ is
the promised Savior of the Scriptures. The Old Testament all pointed
towards Him. The New Testament says He's come. And now true gospel preachers
stand and they are determined to know not anything among you
other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All preachers do is
point you to Christ. Point you to Christ. Look to
Him and live. he's high and lifted up he'll
draw all men unto himself all his elect are going to come and
in verse twenty seven we won't read these verses again if you
want to glance at them as i make these comments you can but we
see that the jews heard the prophets read week after week sabbath
after sabbath which concerned christ They were all about Him. Every Scripture they ever read
was concerning Christ. Yet they did not believe. And
they fulfilled the Scriptures in condemning Him, Paul says
in our text. Verse 28 says that they brought
Him before Pilate to have Him crucified, but there was no cause
of death in Him. Oh, I'm telling you, friends,
that's how we're saved. There's no cause of death in
Him. He died for us. He took my sin and your sin,
all my sin, all your sin, all past, present, and future sin.
Christ, for all the elect, Christ took upon Himself, and He died
the death of the most notorious criminal that ever lived, because
that's what you and I were. They brought Him before Pilate,
but there's no cause of death in Him, yet desired they, Pilate,
that He should be slain. When they brought Christ before
Pilate, he went out before them and he said, Behold, I bring
him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in
him. Even Pilate said, I don't find any cause of death in this
man. I don't find any fault in him. And Jesus came forth. They put
the crown of thorns on his head and the purple robe. And Pilate
said unto him, Behold the man. Behold the man through this man
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Behold the man. Do you
behold the man this morning? I'll tell you, he no longer wears
a crown of thorns. He no longer wears a purple robe
made from man's threads. No. No, this is the Lord God
Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the chief priest and all
the officers saw him when they came out. They brought him out.
I can just see them pushing him out there. Thorns on his head,
blood dripping, purple robe with blood spattered on it. And what
did the people say? They said, Crucify him! Crucify him! Oh, I get so tired of hearing
men talk about free will. You want to see something of
the free will of man? You look at what they did to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They with wicked hands took Him
and crucified Him. Verse 29, that's what Paul says. He said, they crucified the Lord
of glory according to their own free will. But let me tell you
something, friends. It was by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. That's what Acts 2.23 says, Christ
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken. You've taken. Me? Might as well
have. I've heard men say, and I've
told you this before, I've heard men say, If I'd have been there,
I wouldn't have done that. I remember Brother Mahan asking
Brother Maurice one time, he said, do you think that if we'd
have been there when they yelled out, crucify him, crucify him,
that we would have joined in? And he didn't even give Maurice
time to answer. He said, we would have. We'd
have been yelling the loudest. That's what Brother Mahan said.
And I thought about that, and thought about that, and I thought,
you know what? I would have been too. And if you don't think you
would have, then you've yet to see something of your desperately
wicked heart, which is deceitful above all things. If God leave
us to ourselves, friends, it's limitless what we're capable
of doing. Christ was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, and it was by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God that He was delivered into
the hands of wicked men. Are wicked men responsible since
God delivered them? Absolutely. God's sovereign in
man is responsible. And this is the word of salvation
sent unto you. This was no afterthought. This
wasn't a backup plan that God devised because men caught Him
off guard and killed His only begotten Son. This was the purpose
of God Almighty before the foundation of the world. Oh my! God raised Him from the
dead. God raised Him from the dead.
Verse 31 tells us that he was seen by his apostles and many
other witnesses, so we know that it's true. God gave confirmation
that He raised him from the dead. Verse 32 talks about the glad
tidings that were published and preached of how that God had
done what He promised their fathers that He would do. And not only
to their fathers, Paul says, unto us, His children, by raising
Him from the dead. God said, Thou art my Son, and
this day have I begotten Thee. Which was written in the second
Psalm long before Christ was ever born. No, friends, this
didn't catch caught off guard. This was God's will and purpose
according to the salvation of His people. Now let me ask you
a simple question. Do you believe the words of God? God said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. And Christ only Now listen, in
Christ only is God pleased with any sinner. All men have seen Jesus loves
me, this I know. Let me tell you, God's love is
not outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. If He loves me, it's
because He loves Christ in me. The hope of glory. Paul proclaims in verse 34 that
we've received the sure mercies of David, for he was raised and
so are we in him, incorruptible. That's a word that I've just
read over for years. You mentioned that word corrupt
this morning when you read. We're in him incorruptible, never
again to see corruption. Look at verse 35 again, 35 through
37. Wherefore he saith also in another
psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one, what? 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, Christ, whom God raised
again, saw no corruption." You see, in Christ we're raised incorruptible. You know what corrupt means?
It's not a hard word to understand. It means tainted. It means worse
than that. It means rotten. Corrupt. Rotten. It means to be morally
debased. Depraved. to be ruined and spoiled. Oh my, you ever leave something
in the refrigerator and forget about it and open that door?
Oh man, what was that? That's the way we smell in the
nostrils of a thrice holy God, even worse. We're spoiled, we're
ruined. That pretty well describes us,
doesn't it? But here is the word of salvation
sent to you. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written, is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy stay? Where is it? Oh grave, where
is thy victory? You see there again, Christ took
me who was nothing but corrupt, corruption, That's what I am,
corrupt. And He who is incorruptible,
uncorruptible, unable to be corrupt, was made corruption for me. And
He's put incorruption upon His people. And now death is swallowed
up in victory. Death, where's your sting? It's
gone. Christ has put it away. Oh, grave,
where's your victory? I'm going to forever be with
Him in glory. Grave, where's thy victory? Being born
again, Peter said, not of corruptible seed, but of an incorruptible
by the Word of God which liveth and abideth, how long? Forever. Forever. Okay, look at verse 38 with me
and I'll hurry. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man it's preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. Unto you, it says. To you is
the word of this salvation sent, dear friends. If God sends it
to you, He's going to make it known unto you. Be it known unto
you, He says. Christ said in John 15 henceforth. I call you not servants for the
servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called
you friends For all things that I've heard of my father I have
made known unto you He'll make known unto you that salvation
is through this man Christ Jesus Oh If God has made it known unto
you, it will be through the preaching of the gospel. For after that,
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." If
God's going to make this known to you, dear friends, if He's
going to send you this word of salvation, it's going to be through
preaching. And I'm convinced it's called the foolishness of
preaching because he uses fools like me to do it. The foolishness
of preaching. Through the preaching of the
gospel it will be known to you that in Christ your sins are
forgiven. That's not hard, is it? Ephesians
1-7, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins. That's what redemption is. It's
the forgiveness of sins through His blood according to the riches
of His grace. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
through Him, by Him, in Him. The Scriptures are full of that
kind of language. Where is salvation? Paul says,
through this man. Salvation is in a person. We
say that so often. But very few people believe that,
do they? Are you saved? Yeah, I'm saved.
Oh, really? Yeah, I was baptized. I walked
down the aisle. I made a decision. I made a choice.
I decided to follow Jesus in whom we have redemption through
His blood. For if the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God." The writer of Hebrews said in chapter 10, verse 4,
it is not possible It's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins. How horrific is my sin? So horrific
that God had to shed His blood for me. My nature so fallen that
God had to take on my nature without sin and keep for me the
law perfectly that I might have life. All friends, substitution. Paul said, I don't want to know
anything among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What
do you think of Him? Well, what has this truth to
do with you? Through this man has preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins. The Lord laid our sins upon Him. And He carried them up to that
tree. And there upon that cross He bore the full penalty of our
sin in His own body on the tree. All the transgressions of all
His people. The penalty of sin is death. So Jesus died. And Paul writes,
by inspiration, God commendeth His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now let me ask you a
question again. Are you a sinner? Then this word of salvation is
sent to you. Do you hear it? This word of salvation is the
proclamation of perfect salvation through a risen Savior. How is this Word of Salvation
sent to you? Well, Christ's Great Commission,
in closing, His Great Commission is this. He said, Go ye into
all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. You
and I are creatures, right? That qualifies you to hear this
Word of Salvation which is sent. The Gospel is being preached
to you. Paul wrote to Timothy and he said, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. You're a sinner, aren't you? Then this word of salvation is
sent to you. And as I said in the very beginning,
it's not coincidence that you're here right now, this very second. It was ordained before the foundation
of the world. I must ask you, and I ask you
to look to your own heart. What do you think of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Seriously. Do you love Him or
do you not? Do you love Him or do you not? Did He just do some good things
so He could be your example to do some good things? Or do you
believe that He came into the world to save sinners? That angel, when he appeared
to Joseph after Mary was with child, he said, I shall call
His name Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sins. Do you, as some believe, believe
that Christ has cast His vote for you as Satan did against
you and that the deciding vote is up to you? Or was He made
to be sin for us, He that knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him? Do you love Him or do you not?
Do you believe Him or don't you? Do you trust Him or do you trust
in yourself? Is He begging and pleading and
softly and tenderly calling for you to come home? Or have we
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will? Which is it? Has He left it up to you to come
to Him and you come if you want to? Or has God shown you you
cannot and you will not come? Well, when the word of salvation
is sent, many say with themselves, well, I'm going to consider that
tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation. Now. And when old Felix said to Paul,
he said, these were his words, he said, go thy way for this
time. Paul preached the gospel to him.
He said, go your way at this time, and when I have a convenient
season, when it's convenient for me, I'll call for you. And what he meant was, I don't
want to listen to you anymore. That's exactly what it meant.
I don't want to listen to you any longer. You're a nuisance
to me. So again, let me put the matter
to you very plainly. Do you love Christ or not? The tomorrow excuse, that's a
false lie from the Father of all lies. And I know that no one can truly
trust Christ unless God give him the grace by His sovereign
will. And I know that no one can truly
reject Christ unless God leave him to themselves. I know that. But if you will not bow to Christ,
for He only has the words to life eternal, you'll die in your
sin. You'll have no one to blame but
yourself. You're responsible if you're
lost, and God's responsible if you're saved. May God cause you and I to cry
unto Him as the psalmist did. In Psalm 106.4, he said, Remember
me. Oh Lord, remember me, oh Lord,
with the favor that Thou barest unto Thy people. Oh, visit me. This is personal. Visit me with
Thy salvation. Amen. Amen.