Notice in verse 2 of Acts chapter
17, and Paul as his manor was. I have entitled this message,
Paul's Manor. Paul's Manor. And we're reading here about
the founding of the church at Thessalonica. You've read 1 and
2 Thessalonians. Well, this is when that church
began. And unlike Philippi, there was
a Jewish synagogue there. And these people were people
who had some notion of the Christ. They believed the Bible, and
they believed that Christ was coming. Messiah was coming, they
didn't have any idea who he is, and they were looking for a different
Christ than the Christ that did come, but they had some notion
of a Christ. And Paul's manner, evidently,
was when he would come into a place, if there was a synagogue, he
would go straight to that synagogue and begin to speak from the scriptures. Now, Paul was not only an apostle,
he was a pioneer missionary. and he would go into places where
the gospel had not been preached, and he would begin to preach
the gospel there. And we have an example of that
in this passage before us. Now look in verse two. Paul was in this synagogue, and
Paul, as his manner was, this was Paul's manner, it better
be our manner. He went in unto them, and three
Sabbath days, reason with them out of the scriptures. Now here's where Paul began,
and here's where we need to begin, the scriptures. That's where
we begin. He reasoned with them from the
scriptures. Now, if we don't have the scriptures,
what do we have? My opinion, your opinion, and
how worthless is that? But the Bible is God-breathed. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And that is our authority, the
Word of God. I love it when Peter said, the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. The prophecy
is not of any private interpretation. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now somebody says, well, here's
what I believe that means. Here's what it means to me. Wait
a minute, that's private interpretation. And I don't want to be harsh,
but I don't care what it means to you. What's it mean? That's
what I want to know. What does the scripture actually
mean? He reasoned with them from the
Scriptures. If we don't have the Holy Scriptures,
we do not have anything. Now look in verse three, and Paul, as his manner was,
went in unto them in three Sabbath days, reasoned with them out
of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs
have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. Now, I dare say that
probably everyone listening to him believed in the Christ. Now, they didn't know what that
meant, but they believed in the Christ. You know, when the Lord
said, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? He wasn't talking
about, what do you think of me? What do you think of the Old
Testament concept of the Christ? Whose son is he? And that's when
they said, with the son of David. And he said, well, how could
David, how could it be David's son and yet David's Lord? If
you've learned that, you've learned the gospel. He is the Christ. He reasoned from the scriptures
that Christ must needs have suffered. Now, like I said, everybody believed
in the Christ that he was speaking to. I don't know that everybody
did, but I'd say most of them did. They knew that the Bible
spoke of a Christ that should come. Somebody once said this,
the Old Testament is somebody's coming. The gospels is he's here. The
epistles are, he's coming again, the Christ. Now he was set forth
over and over again as the Christ, the light in Genesis 1.1, the
light that was there before the creation of the sun or moon,
the uncreated light. He set forth in Genesis 3.15
as the seat of woman that would bruise
the serpent's head. And him being the seat of a woman
is an answer to Isaiah 7, verse 14, a virgin shall be with child. His name shall be called Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. He is the lion of the
tribe of Judah. Moses called him that prophet,
like unto me. He was set forth in such detail
in the tabernacle, everything about the tabernacle. gives us
a beautiful portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love the way
it's covered with badger skin. And you look at it and say, what's
so impressive about that? But the Shekinah glory of God
was on the inside. And every aspect of the tabernacle
gives us some view of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
set forth in all the sacrifices. You think of Abraham having that
ram to take the place of Isaac in his room and in his stead.
What a beautiful time, the Lord Jesus Christ. What about the
Passover where God says, when I see the blood, I will pass
over you. That's the gospel. What about
the Day of Atonement? He's set forth as in the two
goats, the scapegoat where the sins of God's, of Israel, of
God's people were transferred to him figuratively, but they
weren't transferred to him figuratively on the cross, but the goat, all
the sins, all the iniquities were transferred to him, taken
into a place that's not inhabited. Brought by a fit man, he comes
back with nothing. The sin is gone. You see, Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures, according to
the Old Testament scriptures. What about Isaiah 53, that great
chapter on the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ? He was
wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. By his stripes, we are healed. You know, you were talking about
That's chapter two from Jonah. You know everything the Lord
said from the cross is found in the Psalms. All seven statements
are found in the Psalms. The Psalms set forth how the
Christ would die. They pierce my hands and feet.
They tell what all he would say as he was dying. It's amazing. It's almost like the people who
put him to death must have like, well, what are we supposed to
do next? And read the Psalms and then did that. It's so clear
that that is the Lord. What I think is overwhelming
even now is how it's pointed out in the scripture
that he literally bore my sins. He literally bore my sins. He bore the sins of all of his
people as his own. You can't read Isaiah 53 without
being struck by that. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. I think of that
Ethiopian eunuch when he was reading Isaiah 53 and Philip
comes up to him, he says, do you understand what you're reading?
I love his question, of whom speaketh the prophet? Of himself
or some other man? And the scripture says Philip
opened his mouth at that same scripture and preached unto him
Jesus. You know, the people were expecting
a Messiah. Remember what John the Baptist said, art thou he
that should come? Or look we for another? They were looking
for a Messiah. The high priest said to him,
art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed, he said, I am. And hereafter you'll see the
son of man coming with power and great glory. I think of that woman at the
well saying, I know that when Messiah cometh, he'll tell us
all things. She was looking for his coming. Now, the Messiah they were looking
for was a political deliverer, somebody who will rescue them
from Roman bondage, this cruel government, and make them The
rulers of the world once again restored to Israel their glory. They weren't looking for a Messiah
that was a deliverer from sin. Now, when Paul went into these
people, he knew they had some kind of concept of Christ. He
didn't talk about Jesus of Nazareth yet. He was talking about what
the Old Testament scriptures actually taught regarding the
Christ. And look what he says in verse
three. Opening and alleging that Christ The Christ we're waiting
on, I don't know if they knew this, opening and alleging that
Christ must needs have suffered. And he must needs have risen
again from the dead. Now, he must needs. have suffered. You know, in the
first prophecy given concerning him, he shall crush the serpent's
head, but the serpent shall bruise his heel. That's a reference
to his sufferings. Old Testament sets forth in every
sacrifice His sufferings. He must need to suffer, and the
Christ, the Old Testament Christ, must need, it's absolutely necessary,
that He rise from the dead. Let me read what Peter said in
Acts 2 on the great day of Pentecost. He says, Him being delivered
by the determined counsel of foreknowledge of God you have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God
hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it
was not possible that he should behold nothing. For David speaketh
concerning him, he goes to the Old Testament Scriptures, and
this shows how the Old Testament Scriptures show he must needs
have suffered, and he must needs have been raised from the dead.
David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before
my face. For he's on my right hand, that
I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer the Holy One to see corruption." He went through
no process of decay. God raised him from the dead.
Now that's what the Old Testament Scriptures tell us, that Christ
must suffer and the Christ must be raised from the dead. That's
clear. Now, he didn't deal with Jesus of Nazareth just yet. He's just talking about how the
Christ, according to the Old Testament scriptures, is one
who must suffer, and he must be raised from the dead. Now,
my question is, why? Why is it necessary for the Christ
to suffer? Why is it necessary for the Christ
to be raised from the dead? That's so important for me and
you to understand. Now, I know we can't comprehend
that completely, but we better have some understanding of it.
Why he must needs suffer. Why he must needs be raised from
the dead. Well, first, he must needs suffer
because it's God's eternal purpose. He's called in Revelation 13,
eight, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Of course,
he must need suffer. God purposed it. He prophesied
of it in Genesis 3, 15, when he said, the seed of woman, his
heel is gonna be bruised. That speaks of his suffering.
Now, it's God's purpose, but why? Let's take it further, why? And here's the great mystery
of the gospel. Jesus Christ literally became
guilty of the commission of the sins of every single one of his
people. All my sin, every sin I've ever
committed, all the millions of sins that I don't even know about,
every sin I've ever committed, every sin that every believer
has ever committed, he bore. in his own body on the tree. And he actually became guilty
of the commission of that sin. When God punished him, it wasn't
because he was innocent. He was innocent at that time.
No, he wasn't. I beg your pardon. He was guilty. The reason that he didn't justify
himself, the reason he didn't protect himself when he was being
questioned is because he knew he was guilty. Somebody says,
explain that to me. I can't explain that, but I know
this. The scripture says, for he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. You know all I can do
is bow. I can't grasp that, but I know
it's so. He was punished, he died. Here's how truly he was made
sin, he died. There's only one reason for death,
only one, sin. He was made sin, he was made
guilty, he owned those sins as his own. And he died. It was necessary because it was
God's purpose. God made him to be sin. It was
necessary because he was guilty. But not only was it necessary
that he be dead, it was necessary that he be raised from the dead.
It was prophesied in scripture. God said it would happen. And
you see, his death did something my and your death could never
do. If we got sent to hell, you know how long we'd be there?
Forever. There would never be a time when
that punishment would be over. You know why? Because there's
no way we can satisfy a holy God for the sin we've committed.
If somebody, and this is human terms, I realize that, and I
don't know how else to say it, but if somebody murdered your
child, there's nothing they could do to satisfy you and say it's
okay. You've been punished enough,
you've suffered enough. But here's what Christ did. He
actually made complete satisfaction and made every believer to be
without guilt. When God raised him from the
dead, you know what that means? Everybody he died for is justified
and the law and justice of God demands it. Demands it. That's why he must
needs have suffered. And that's why he must needs
have rise from the dead. God's purpose was done in his
death and his resurrection and the very justice and law of God
demanded his death and he demanded his resurrection because full
satisfaction was made and every believer stands before God without
guilt. Now he goes into this synagogue
and he lets them know the Christ. According to the Old Testament
scripture, You're all looking for him. And he demonstrated
from the scriptures. He was reasoning from the scriptures
and he let them know that the Christ must needs suffer. And the Christ must needs be
raised from the dead. Now that was Paul's manner. I'm
sure that this was duplicated all over the place, wherever
he went. This was basically his message.
He's telling who the Christ is. Now look what he says next in
verse three. opening and alleging from the
scriptures. Remember that scripture, he opened
their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.
He opened the scriptures to these people, opening and alleging,
setting forth that Christ must needs have suffered and that
this Jesus, now he's getting to the part of the Lord Jesus
Christ, this Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. The one who was born
in Bethlehem, just as the scripture said he would be. The one who
was grown up in Nazareth, just as the scripture said he would
be. This one who went about doing what only God can do. This one
who brought matter into existence that was not there before. This
one who controlled the weather. Only God can do that. This one
who raised the dead. Only God can raise the dead.
Let a man try to raise somebody from the dead. It ain't gonna
happen, is it? But God, with God all things are possible because
of this power, this Jesus who demonstrated by his life that
he was God, the God-man. This Jesus that I'm preaching
to you, this Jesus is the Christ. the one who suffered and died
on Golgotha's Hill, the one who was raised from the dead, this
Jesus is Christ. Now, we can't understand or hear
enough about who Christ is, what that means. Christ is the Greek
translation of the Old Testament word, the Messiah. or the anointed. And in the Old Testament, there
were only three persons who were ever anointed. God's prophet,
God's priest, they were all anointed with oil, recognized by God with
his anointing. Remember when David was anointed
with oil, rise, this is he, and God's king. God's king was anointed,
prophet, priest, and king. And what I think is so interesting
in the Old Testament, no man ever held all three of these
offices, but there is one who does hold all three of these
offices. Christ, God's prophet. Every other prophet said, thus
saith the Lord. He never said it once. He said,
I say unto you the very word of God. He's God's priest. He's the priest after the order
of Melchizedek. He's not a priest that brings
the blood before the altar of a dead animal that can never
take away sin. This priest is the one who lives. He's both the priest, he himself
is the sacrifice, he is the altar, and the living priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, brings His own blood,
the blood of Him who lives. Not just the blood of a dead
animal, but the blood of Him who lives. What a priest. If he prays for you, you must
be saved. He said, I pray for them, I pray
not for the world, but for them which you've given me, for they
are thine. I love to think about this, when
the Lord said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they
do. Everybody he prayed for was forgiven, just like that. And
oh, what a king. Yet have I sent my king, upon
my holy hill of Zion. He's called in Psalm 24, the
greatest Ascension Psalm, the King of glory. And I, let me
tell you what I know. I need him as a King. I need
him as, you know, the King is the one whose will is done. I need him to will my salvation.
I need him to will me to live. I need him to cause me to believe,
to cause me to repent, to will my salvation. He's the king.
How we need him as the prophet, priest, and king. Whoso believeth,
and this is scripture, whoso believeth that Jesus is Christ
is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
Christ? Well, if you do, and I'm talking
about the Christ of Scripture, that means you are born of God. Somebody says, that just seems
too simple. It's a miracle if you do. But
whoso believeth that Jesus is Christ is born of God. Now, I wanna look at Daniel chapter
nine for a moment, the book of Daniel. Verse 25, know therefore and
understand that from the going forth of the commandment, Daniel
chapter 9, verse 25, to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the
Messiah, the Prince. Now there we have his name. We
know who he's speaking of, the Messiah, the Christ, the Prince. shall be seven weeks, and three
score and two weeks, and the street shall be built again,
and the wall even in troublous times, and after three score
and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself,
And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with
a flood. Under the end of the war, desolations are determined."
Now we know that this passage of scripture is with regard to
the Messiah. And the Lord reveals to Daniel
at this time, the Messiah will come in 70 weeks. Now a week
is a period of seven years. Seven years is 490 years, and
this is when Daniel was writing this. In 490 years, Messiah will
come. As a matter of fact, those wise
men that came from the east, they came from Babylon. And they
had this scripture, and they knew it was time for the Messiah
to come. Where is he that was born King
of the Jews? Now, look what... We find out
about the Messiah 70 weeks, verse 24, 70 weeks, 490 years are determined
upon by people and upon by Holy city. And he gives six things
that Messiah will do when he comes, he's going to finish the
transgression. He's going to make an end of
sins. He's going to make reconciliation
for iniquity. He's going to bring in everlasting
righteousness. He's going to seal up the vision
and the prophecy, and he's going to anoint the Most Holy. Now, the first thing that I would
think of in this passage of your scripture that I think it's so
interesting. How many times in the Psalms, in the book of Isaiah,
how many times do you have these three words mentioned together? Transgression, sin, and iniquity. Transgression, sin, and iniquity. I would say that those three
words are linked together. Well, I would just be guessing,
but I would think hundreds of times in the scripture. Transgression,
sin, and iniquity. David spoke of this in Psalm
32. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. Now, those are our three problems.
Transgression, sin, iniquity. Transgression is the bad stuff
you do when you break God's law. That's the bad stuff. Sin is
the nature that causes the bad stuff. John said, if we say we
have no sin, and there he uses a verb, not as an action, it's
something you've done, it's what you are. If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. We lose
all credibility. And iniquity is the good things,
the inequity of the good things. It is said of the priest that
he shall bear the iniquity of the holy things in Exodus chapter
28. So here's our problem, a sinful
nature, that causes bad things, and the good things are the bad
things, and you can't tell the difference between the bad things
and the good things because of sin. Sin, transgression, and
iniquity. Do you know anything about that?
In your own heart and soul right now, in your own experience,
sin, the wicked things that you do, Iniquity, the wicked righteous
acts and the sinful nature that causes it all. I need something
to be done about my sin. I need the Lord to do something
about my sin because I can't make it go away. Well, here's
what the Christ, the Messiah will do. It says, here's going
to come to finish the transgression. You know when they were finished?
When he said, it is finished. They're gone. He came to make an end of sins. The reason he said, I remember
no more because there's nothing there to remember. They were
put away. That's what the Christ does about
our sins. He puts them away. The end. They're not going to
be raised back up on judgment day because they are not there. They're gone, separated from
us as far as the East is from the West. And he's going to make
reconciliation. That word is atonement. Make
atonement for iniquity, blot it out, make it to where it's
not to be. He's going to bring in everlasting
righteousness. Don't you? Love the way it's
called everlasting, eternal righteousness. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. This is the name
wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. The
Lord said in Isaiah, their righteousness is of me. He brings in an eternal,
everlasting righteousness. And he seals up the vision and
prophecy of this book. It's going to happen. It's sealed
up. As a matter of fact, it's already
happened. It's happened in eternity. That's how sure it is. And then
he's going to Anoint the Most Holy, and I have no doubt that
that's talking about regeneration. You have an unction, an anointing
from the Holy One, and understand all things. This anointing that
makes you understand the gospel. Okay, let's close by going back
to our text. This is the Messiah, Prince.
This is the Christ who must, needs, have suffered and must
needs have risen again. And this Jesus whom I preach
unto you is Christ. Now that was Paul's manner. That
was Paul's manner. And that is to be our manner
too. Verse four. And some of them believed. Not
all of them. Matter of fact, a lot didn't.
They started a riot and Paul ended up getting kicked out.
We're going to consider that next week. But some of them believed. And I think this is very interesting.
This word believed is the word generally translated persuaded. And it is in the passive voice. Some of them were persuaded. If you believe, it's because
you've been persuaded to believe and the one who persuaded you
was God himself. You would never believe had he
not persuaded you to believe. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded. Pass a tense once again. The
reason I know whom I believe, I've been persuaded. If you've
been persuaded, you will believe. All who are persuaded by God
believe the gospel. You know what they did next?
Some of them believed and they consorted with Paul and Silas. They identified themselves with
the gospel of Paul and Silas. Birds of a feather flock together. They always do. And here's the
Result, devout Greeks, religious Greeks. I'm thankful the Lord
saves religious people, aren't you? Religious people. This is
not a commendation of him. It's not like they were really
good, devout people. It simply means religious. And the devout
Greeks, a great multitude, and the chief women, not a few, and
thus the church in Thessalonica was established. And that was
Paul's manner. And may that be our manner as
well. Let's pray.