It's my pleasure and privilege
to be with you this day, this week. The saints in College Grove,
they send their love and support and desire for God's blessing
upon you all. I appreciate my brother Cody. I think I understood him to say
a moment ago that we've known each other for many years, which
is true, and been good friends all those years, and brothers in Christ as long
as we've known each other. And I know he means a lot to
you folks. to the book of Acts chapter 17.
And if you would, if you want to just read the first four. of the Fue a ellos y por tres días de
reposo discutió con ellos, declarando y exponiendo por medio de las
escrituras que era necesario que el Cristo padeciese y resucitase
de los muertos, y que Jesús, a quien yo os anuncio, decía
él, es el Cristo. Y algunos de ellos creyeron,
y se juntaron con Pablo y con Silas, y de los griegos peadosos
gran número, y mujeres nobres no pocas." In verse two, the
Scripture speaks of Paul's manner. Y vemos allá en el versículo
dos, nos habla de la costumbre del apóstol Pablo, of preaching
the gospel. La costumbre y la manera que
él predicaba el evangelio. And this is vitally interesting
to me as a preacher that God mightily used and blessed him.
The Apostle Paul in preaching is without question. that he filled him with the Holy
Spirit, and accompanied his preaching with the power of the Holy Spirit,
and used him to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. And his work for
sinners is unquestionable. Whether he will use me, or you, I can't say how much
or if he will. But I know that he used Paul,
and so I'm interested in what Paul's manner was. First of all, I want to call
your attention to the fact that it was Paul's
manner to reason with the Jews. What this word reason means in
the original, Now, these religious Jews, as
those in our generation of churchgoers, had their own ideas, thoughts,
opinions, and beliefs. and how he saves sinners. Paul
said of them, they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. And I find my religious generation to be the same. And so it is necessary to reason
with them, to speak to them that which is reason. And notice it
says he reasoned with them from the scriptures. We don't reason with men matching
our opinion against theirs, or our thoughts on matters as opposed
to theirs. Our only authority with which
to say anything to men as preachers of the gospel, is
the Word of God, the Scriptures. And so he always reasoned with
them from the Scriptures. Men think, for example, that
salvation is a decision that man makes. But God said in Romans 9.15,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, seeing that that's true,
we conclude this. Paul said in verse sixteen of
that chapter, it is not of him that willeth. It is not of man who decides
to be saved, nor of him that runneth. It is not of man's zeal
or doing. but of God that showeth mercy. And so we reason with men who
naturally tend to think of salvation as man's work. We reason from
the Word of God. But salvation is God's work alone,
as our brother taught. Man also, for example, imagines
himself to have a free will. But God said in John 6, 44, the
Lord Jesus Christ said, No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him. He cannot decide to, only as
God brings him. to Christ. Will He come to Christ?
The word draw there in that verse. is the same word used where it
says that Peter drew his sword and smote off the servant of
the high priest's ear. He caused that sword to come
out of its scabbard. And God must cause the sinner
to come to Christ. We love Him because He first loved us. Blessed is the man whom Thou
choosest and causes to approach unto Thee. And so we reason with men from
the Scriptures, do we not? It is contrary to what men believe
by nature, and so they must be convinced. Now, to convince them effectually,
again, as our brother taught, is the work alone of the Holy
Spirit of God. But it is by the means of gospel
preaching that God has promised to do that. Again, men think by nature that God loves everybody. But in Psalm 5 and verse 5, it says of God, the foolish shall
not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. It does not say that God hates
iniquity, although He does. But we're told He hates those
who work it. God said, Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. God's love is alone in Christ
Jesus. So you see why Paul reasoned
with those who are ignorant of the Scripture, and why we must,
as preachers of the Gospel, And everybody in this community,
and that where God has put me, that I meet and who will listen,
as Paul did. May God give me and you grace
to reason, with ignorant, hell-bound sinners
out of the Scriptures. My opinions are no better than
anyone else's. But by God's grace, We know what God said, and by
His means and grace, it is His way to fit us, to equip us, to
teach others. And then it says regarding Paul's
manner, in verse three, that it was his manner to open and
allege something. The words opening and alleging
here are significant in describing Paul's manner, and the manner
in which God would have his gospel preached. The word manner here in the original language means
to open by dividing. Brother Don said, from the word
of God, that we must, for God to condescend to our human understanding. He sets things forth to us in
a logical and understandable way to accommodate our weakness,
our critical mind. And so to open is to open by,
or to, opening is to open by dividing or drawing asunder.
Es decir, cuando dice aquí la palabra declarando, está hablando,
esta palabra declarando significa lo original, que es abrir por
medio de dividir. To open thoroughly what had been
closed. Para abrir enteramente lo que
antes estaba cerrado. to cause to understand a thing. And so that's what Paul did,
but he also alleged. Do you stop? OK. These are hard
words. Well, it's exposing and declaring. And that's OK. It's got them
reversed. And I was. Oh, I see. I see.
It's got them reversed. It says declaring and exposing. I'm trying to work that out there.
That's OK. But the word you're talking about,
opening, is exposing. It would be dividing. Yes. And declaring is the other
word. Okay. But it's got to be balanced. Exponiendo, esta palabra exponiendo,
es abrir, dividiendo, es de una manera que se haga entendible.
Okay, now go over to declaring. Okay, the second word is alleging
in the English. It means to place beside or set
before as food placed on a table. And
how instructive that is regarding Paul's manner. and what our manner must be in
setting forth the truth of God. The food is set on the table.
We cannot call those to come to the table. We cannot force
them to come. We can't make sinners eat. Our
business is setting the table, and we cannot even do that without,
as Paul said, that our sufficiency is of God. We know nothing and
can do nothing of ourselves. But God has condescended to entrust
us with the business of setting the table. And notice
how the language precludes any addition or exclusion. There
is simply an opening and a setting before. People speak of interpreting
the scriptures as though they were a foreign language. that had to be translated into
another language. This is not what we do in preaching. I don't need someone to tell
me what God meant by what he said. I just need someone to tell me
what God says, and that is what we do as preachers. I don't dress
it up. I just open the package and set it in front of you. What sinners do with it is between
them and God. So what exactly do we open and
set before people? It says Paul opened and alleged
that Christ must needs Christ, a person. We preach the
person of Christ, who Christ is. We preach what He did. He died for sinners. He made an offering to God for
the sins of his people. And we speak of why he did so.
He must needs have done so. It is necessary that he did so. And we'll, in a moment, talk
about that. Why Christ died. This particular
statement here was uniquely significant to these Jews. to whom Paul preached, because
they considered that one who was tortured and died on a cross
to fall miserably short of the expectations that they had for
a Savior. They insisted that if he was
the Christ of God, that he would live and rule in an earthly kingdom and be
their champion in the sense that they desired him to be. So Paul
took the word of God. and opened and set before them
the glorious truth that Jesus must be suffered and
died, and far from disqualifying him from being the Messiah. It was absolutely consistent
with what God said his Messiah would accomplish. And we see
here the blindness of religion. So strong is the desire by nature. and the insistence that things
be to our way of thinking, that all of the word of God is ignored.
These Jews had the types, the ceremonies, pictures of Christ, the prophecies that pointed to
Him, all of the blood sacrifices that were shed, that were given
to them, the blood that was shed that pictured His death. These
are a people who had observed the Passover. where a lamb is slain, and blood
applied, and deliverance from judgment is said to be because of that
blood. God said to them, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. And John said, behold the lamb. And yet they could not see in
God's true land the Messiah that they looked for. They were not
interested in forgiveness of sin. They were only interested
in deliverance from the oppression of Rome. This is not much different than religious sinners in our
day. They see God and His Christ as a way to as someone to provide for them the things that their flesh desires, deliverance from their problems,
prosperity in this life, and their ideas of heaven are as
carnal as their desires for the things
of this world, streets of gold, palatial mansions, and every
whim and desire granted. And so Paul reasoned with them. and opened the word of God, and
set before them the glorious truth that Christ must needs
have suffered. And included in the language here is not only that he did
suffer, but that he must do so. This is the same message that
the Lord Jesus Christ himself preached. In Mark 8, 31, it says,
He began to teach them, that is, Christ, that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be
rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes,
and be killed. And after three days, rise again. And so Christ preached this same
message, that he must knees have suffered. And our message in
preaching the gospel is the words of Christ. or we have no business saying
them. And so what is our message? Christ must needs have suffered.
Why did Christ die? First of all, because God said he would. 1 Corinthians 15.3, Paul said, I delivered unto you
first that which I also received, how that cross died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. He died according to how God had written before that
he should die. Judas sold the Lord Jesus for
thirty pieces of silver that the Scriptures might be
fulfilled. Christ's disciples forsook Him
and fled that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Now, we know
that they did so because they were cowards, just like we are. But we're also told that they
did so because God said they would.
In Matthew 26, 51, it says, Behold, one of them which were with Jesus
stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant
of the high priests and smote off his ear. Then said
Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place, for
all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray? to my father, and he shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall
the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? He must
needs have suffered. And here in this passage, Christ
shows to Peter that even that which is not done is so that the Scriptures might
be fulfilled. They parted his garment and cast
lots. that the Scripture might be fulfilled. He was numbered with the transgressors,
that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. He died according
to the Scriptures. He came back to his disciples
from the dead, and he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me." Luke 24, 44. So the Lord Jesus Christ must
needs have suffered, because God said that he would. In his
eternal grace, he promised a substitute, and he delivered on that promise.
And secondly, we're told, that Christ must needs have suffered,
that he might be Lord of all. And we might wonder, was not Christ Lord of all from
eternity? But as the ruler of his people,
and as a man, It says in Romans 14, 9, to this
end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be
Lord both of the dead and the living. He was already Lord by creation and by sovereign right as God. But as a man, he purchased the
right to do with you and I what he
will. He said, Shall I not do with
mine own what I will? And we are His own because He
bought us. Thirdly, Christ must needs have
suffered in order to glorify the Father.
Nowhere is God Almighty in all of His attributes declared and
glorified like at the cross. Romans 3.24, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood. Why? to declare His righteousness. As birthed a while ago, there
are many answers to the question, why did Christ die? But here
in Romans 3, it's declared plainly. that he did so to declare the
righteousness of God for the remission of sins that are passed
through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness. that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Christ
died to declare the strict and flexible justice of God. in that he must and shall punish
sin. But also, as the text in Romans
3 declares, His death shows God's righteousness in saving sinners in a way that
is consistent with His divine justice, just and justifier. Fourthly, the Lord Jesus Christ
must needs have suffered. because he loved sinners. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. He loved his people with an everlasting
love. And John in the book of Revelation
describes him this way, unto him that loved us, and did something
about it. He must needs have suffered, because he loved you if you were
his. And then he must needs have suffered
fifthly, to put away sin. Hebrews 9, 24. For Christ is
not entered into the holy places made with hands. Do you want
to just read that from verse 25? Would you rather just repeat
it? Yes. Porque no entró Cristo en el
santuario hecho por mano, figura del verdadero, sino en el cielo
mismo para presentarse, no para ofrecerse muchas veces,
como en cada año, con sangre ajena. So there in verse 26, another
answer is given to this question. Why hath he appeared in the end
of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself? all of the sins of all of his
people for all time were and are atoned for by the sacrifice of Christ. And then, sixthly, he died to
make his people his own. We find that in Titus
chapter 2, verse 13. And notice that again, that as
Paul opened that alleged and reasoned from the Scriptures,
we say what we do regarding his death. from the Word of God. We do not use God's Word to support
what we believe, but we believe what we do because God said it. There is
a difference. Titus 2.13 looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us. Why? That He might redeem us
from all iniquity. That's what we read in Hebrews
9. but also and purify unto himself
a peculiar people, zealous of good works. The word peculiar
here means that which is one's own, belonging to one, his possession. King Solomon said, my beloved
is mine, and I'm his. And Christ must needs have suffered
to that end. The songwriter wrote it this
way. His forever, only His, who the Lord and me shall part. Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ doth fill the sinner's
heart. Oh, to lie forever here, O que podamos estar aquí para
siempre. Doubt and care and self-resign. Descansar aquí, sin dudar, sin... It's hard to translate. It doesn't rhyme in Spanish. Permanecer aquí, descansar, permanecer. While he whispers in my ear,
I am his and he is mine. And then finally, he must needs
of suffering, that he might throughout all eternity, show the riches of His grace
in saving sinners by His precious blood. And from the scriptures,
we reason this. Ephesians 2.4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved, and hath raised us up together. and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace." Who's He going to show
it to? us and all of his angels and
everybody that exists, the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. And when he does show this, and
we see it. What will our song be? Glory,
honor, power, and blessing unto the Lamb. For thou wast slain
and hast redeemed us by thy precious blood. Paul opened the word of
God. and set before these religious,
superstitious, self-righteous Jews. And we must open his word and set before our religious,
superstitious, and self-righteous generation that Christ must needs
have suffered and rose again from the dead. And he told them that this Jesus
of Nazareth, whom they despised and crucified, is the very Christ
of God. And look at these beautiful words in verse four. Y algunos de ellos reyeron, y
se juntaron con Pablo y con Silas, y los vieron para su gran número
y mujeres nobles. Five words. Cinco palabras. And
some of them believed. By the almighty grace of God,
some of those who heard the message, that Christ must needs have suffered. were convinced of the truth of
it. As Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded. I'm convinced that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. And some of them believe. And
when we preach the same thing Paul did, these five words can
be repeated, and some of them believe. And that's why we preach. John said there are many things
that Christ did while he was on this earth. that are not written in this
book, but these are written, that sinners might believe on
the Son of God, and that believing, they might have life through
His name. Praise His grace. Thank you.