Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from Acts chapter 13. I've entitled the message, Paul's
First Sermon. Now, this is not the first sermon
Paul ever preached. We read in Acts chapter 9 that
as soon as he was converted, straightway, immediately, He
preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is the son of God. Now, Paul began preaching as
soon as he was converted, but this is the first sermon where
we have the actual content of his preaching. This entire message
is recorded in Acts chapter 13, and this ought to get our careful
attention. This is the man that God used
more than any other man to expound his gospel. Ananias said to him,
the God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou should know his
will and see that just one and hear the voice of his mouth for
thou shalt be his witness unto all men. of what you've seen
and what you have heard. Now, the way he and the other
apostles preached the gospel is the way we ought to preach
the gospel. Now, let me repeat that. The
way the apostles preached the gospel, and we have recorded
sermons in Acts chapter 16, or the entire book of Acts, where they were preaching messages
to men and women the way they preached is the way we should
preach the gospel. Now, in what is called preaching
in our day, if you would ask the average person in Lexington,
Kentucky, What is the way or how, what should be focused on,
what should be emphasized in a gospel message? I dare say
most people would say the love of God for man. And they might even quote John
3.16, a verse I love, says, God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. And someone might go to that
verse of scripture and say, that's the most important verse of scripture
in the Bible. A lot of people do it, and it
is an important scripture. They're all important. But they
might take that verse of scripture and say the emphasis is God's
love for man. And when you begin there, you're
really beginning with man and the love God has for him and
the way he can help him. But did you know that if you
read any of the apostles' sermons, not one time Did they mention
the love of God? Now, it is implied in the doctrine
they preached, but not one time did they mention the love of
God. They never said anything like,
God loves you and Christ died for you. Their aim in preaching
was for us to see our desperate condition and how we're in trouble
and our great need of mercy and grace, our great need of the
blood of Christ. As a matter of fact, a man does
not have the right to even suspect that God loves him unless he
believes the gospel, because the scripture says, thou hatest
all workers of iniquity. Somebody said, well, I thought
God loved all men. Well, you don't get that from
the Bible. He said, Esau have I hated, didn't he? And in hearing
the gospel, in preaching the gospel, I don't want people to,
here's where I want to begin. I want them to see that they're
in trouble. Not that God loves them, but they're in trouble
and they need God to do something for them. Now in the preaching
that goes on in our day, Men almost feel, well I guess they
do feel, entitled to the love of God. Hearing God loves you,
that's the main focus of preaching. And they think they're entitled
to the love of God. And that comes from the false
gospel that is preached. God loves all, Christ died for
all, wants to save all, offers salvation to all, but it's up
to you to take it. Now, that is not what the Bible
teaches, nor is it how the apostles preached. Now, in this passage
of Scripture, beginning in verse 16 of Acts chapter 13, and like
I said, this is Paul's first recorded sermon where we have
the actual content of his preaching. Then Paul stood up and beckoning
with his hand. I can almost see him doing that.
Say it, men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. Listen carefully to what is being
said. Verse 17, the God of this people
of Israel chose our fathers. Now he begins this message where
every message ought to begin, God. God. Not man and the wonderful plan
God has for their life and can do all these things for them.
He begins with God and he begins with the God of election. Now, he said, the God of this
people of Israel chose or elected our fathers. Now, the Bible is
filled with the doctrine of election and many people dismiss it by
saying, well, that's just talking about God's choice of Israel.
Well, God chose individuals. Yes, he chose Israel. And the
choosing of Israel in the Old Testament is given to illustrate
his choosing of all of his people before the foundation of the
world. And if people think, well, it would be wrong for God to
choose one. Well, if that's and passed by another, well, then
it would be wrong for God to choose Israel and pass by all
the other nations. But he did. The God of election. That's a good place to begin
when we preach the gospel. And that's how Paul began. And
that doesn't surprise me because the first thing he heard Ananias
say to him is the God of our fathers hath chosen thee. Now, this God of election establishes
two fundamental truths where we must begin. God is God, not
in name, but in action. He is absolutely sovereign and
he does according to his will. He chooses who he will save. He chooses all things because
he's God. God is absolutely sovereign in
control of everything. Now, many people believe in what
they call man's free will. Now, you can believe in the God
of the Bible and believe in free will. You've got a little God
that man can control if you believe in free will. God is God. Now, this doesn't prove anything,
but I think it's an interesting fact. Stephen Hawking, the physicist,
when he was writing his book, A Brief History of Time, made
this statement. If there is a God, There can
be no such thing as free will. And that's true. If God is, there
is no such thing as free will, because God is God. He is in control of all things. This is the first thing the God
of election establishes. God really is God. And secondly,
it takes salvation out of the sinner's hands. We're in the
hands of a sovereign God. It's up to Him as to whether
or not we'll be saved. And it's only when you come to
that place that you'll cry out for mercy, that you'll cry out
for grace. You won't do it until you see
He's not in your hands, you're in His. And your salvation is
totally up to Him. You have no control. Now, this
is who God is. This is who we are. And this
is a great place to start in preaching the gospel, the God
of election. I've heard people deal with election
like, well, you need to be careful with election. You don't want
to discourage and scare sinners. It ain't gonna happen. This is
who God is, and you won't worship any God but this God, and you
won't cry for mercy to any God but this God, the God of election. Now, in the next several verses,
he deals with events out of the Old Testament. In verse 17, he
deals with the Exodus. In verse 18, he deals with the
40 years in the wilderness, and all of these deserve a sermon,
but he's preaching from the Old Testament, In verse 19, he deals
with what happened in Joshua when the seven nations were destroyed.
And then in verse 20, he deals with the judges. Verse 21, he
talks about Saul, Israel's desire for a king. And in verse 22,
how God removed him and made David, the man after his own
heart, King, and it was through this man's seed that God was
going to provide the Christ, and then he talked about the
preaching of John the Baptist, and I want to pick up reading
once again in verse 26. Now I'm not skipping those things,
I just don't have time to deal with them this morning, but he
made reference to those Old Testament events, and then he said in verse
26, men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and
whosoever among you feareth God, to you is this word of salvation
sent." Oh, I'm thankful the word of salvation is sent because
I need a Savior. I need Him to save me. Now, he goes on to talk about
the cross. I want to read verses 27 through
29. for they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they
knew him not." They didn't know who the Lord Jesus Christ really
was. They thought he was a mere man.
They even called him an imposter and a deceiver. Nor yet the voices
of the prophets. They didn't know the meaning
of the scripture. Now, they could quote scripture. They said they
believed the scripture, but they had no idea concerning what the
scripture meant. They knew not the prophets which
were read every Sabbath day. They have fulfilled them in condemning
him. Now, did you hear that? When
they condemned him, they were doing nothing less than fulfilling
what the scriptures said they would do. Verse 28, and though
they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate
that he should be slain. They couldn't prove any guilt
in him, but they hated him. The natural man hates Jesus Christ. Now, they don't hate the false
Christ that they can control, but the Christ of the Bible,
the natural man who you and I are by nature, hates. Verse 29, and
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took
him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. Now, this
is a reminder to us that the death of Christ, the cross of
Christ, was nothing but the fulfillment of God's purpose. Christ Jesus
is called in Revelation chapter 13 verse 8, the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And this is the fulfilling of
God's purpose. This is the way Peter began his
message on Pentecost. He said, him being delivered
by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." Now
remember this about the cross. This is God's eternal purpose. The reason He created the universe
was for the cross. The reason He created man was
for the cross. The reason he purposed the fall
of Adam was for the cross. The cross is not God's plan B
after Adam messed things up. It's his eternal purpose, the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go on reading. After
they'd fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him
down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised
him from the dead. Now, he died. And there's only
one reason for death, sin. He took upon himself the sins
of his people. They became his sins. He became guilty of the commission
of them. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, for
he hath made him to be sin. And do you hear that? I don't
grasp it, obviously, but I believe it. He, God the Father, has made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Now, God raised him from the
dead, verse 31, and he was seen many days. Now, the reason God
raised him from the dead is God satisfied with what he did. We're
gonna get more into that in a moment. But he was seeing many days,
40 to be exact, of them which came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare
unto you the glad tidings, the good news, how that the promise
which was made unto the fathers That's talking about the promise
of salvation, the promise of the Messiah. You remember how
God said to Abraham, in thee, in thy seat, shall all nations
of the earth be blessed. And he was talking about the
coming Messiah that was going to come through the seat of Abraham.
Through this coming Messiah, every nation will be blessed.
God will save a people out of every kindred, tribe, tongue,
and nation to sing his praises. Oh, all the promises of God in
him are yay and amen. We declare in you the 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's also written in the second
Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Now, this was written 1,000 years
before the resurrection of Christ. Yet, he says this day. Now, he's
not talking about a calendar day, although our Lord was raised
on a calendar day. He's talking about the eternity
of this thing of Christ being the only begotten Son. It's not
so much an event of time, but a fact irrespective of time.
He's always the only begotten Son, and the believer's acceptance
is always only in Him because of His resurrection. This day
have I begotten thee." Now, in the next several verses, he dwells
on the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, when he did die, never
went through the process of decay. Beginning in verse 34, as concerning
that he raised him up from the dead, now to return to corruption,
no more to return to corruption, he said, on this wise, I'll give
you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he also, in another
psalm, said, thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption.
Peter quoted that in Acts chapter 2 on the great day of Pentecost.
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. He went through the process of
decay. As soon as you die, you will start going through the
process of decay. But he whom God raised again
saw no corruption." Now he truly died, but he never went through
the process of decay. His body never decayed during
that three days that he was dead. Now what's the point? The point
is the moment he died, God was completely satisfied with what
he did. Now, I don't hear much emphasis
on this in the preaching of our day. People talking about, when's
the last time you heard a preacher dealing with the fact that he
never went through the process of decay? Now, why did he never
go through the process of decay? Complete satisfaction. Now, the scripture says in Isaiah
chapter 53 verse 11, he, the father, shall see the travail
of his soul. You see, in his sufferings, he
was actually giving life, like the travail of a woman. His sufferings
is what brought forth spiritual life, what he did. Here's what
the father says, he, shall see the travail of his soul and be
satisfied, completely satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Now let's talk for a moment about
satisfaction. There is a place called hell,
and hell is eternal. There's no annihilation. The
scriptures don't support anything like that. Hell is eternal. And if somebody thinks, well,
how could a loving God make somebody burn eternally in hell? The only
reason we ask that question is we don't really understand the
evil of sin or the evil of our own natures. If we did, we wouldn't
ask a question like that. But I realize people ask that
question. Why is hell eternal? Hell is eternal because Satisfaction
can never be made for the enormity of the crime, the murder of the
Son of God. He'd never say he suffered enough. He suffered enough. That is why
hell is eternal. But when Jesus Christ died, it
wasn't a sinner like me or you dying. I love the way Paul says,
who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. This is the eternal Son of God
who never sinned. When he died, He suffered the
full equivalent of an eternal hell. And God said, with regard
to his death, I can ask no more. I'm satisfied. He made complete
payment for sin. So much so that God himself is
satisfied. And he's satisfied with everybody
in him. Now that's the point of Him going
through no decay. He completely satisfied the justice
of God. He made it to where God is completely
satisfied with every believer. As He is, 1 John 4, 17, as He
is. Well, how is He? The Father is
satisfied with Him. As He is, so are we. The Father is satisfied with
every believer. As He is, so are we in this world. Now, let's go on reading. Verse
38, Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man, I love the way he says, that through this man, there's
one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ
Jesus, through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Now, this is my greatest need.
the forgiveness of sins. I'm a sinner. What does that
mean? I wish I could say this with
the depth of feeling that I ought to say it with, but that means
if I'm a sinner, I'm the one who commits the sins and I cannot
not sin. That's true of a sinner. I cannot. Well, I'm going to go five seconds
without sinning. Can't do it. All I do You say, well, what
are you doing? Listen, if I do it, it's sin
because of who did it. All I do is sin. And it's all my fault. I can't
blame God. I can't blame my mom and dad.
I can't blame Adam. I can't blame my circumstances.
My sin is all my fault. And truly, I can't look down
my nose in judgment on anybody. I don't care how bad they are.
They're not worse than me. And I have no claim on God. I have no claim on His mercy
or His grace. I am a sinner, and what I need
is the forgiveness of sins. Now, look what he says. Be it
known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this
man is preached, is declared unto you, the forgiveness of
sins, and by him I love the carefulness of the apostle to give all the
glory to Christ by him. All that believe are justified
from all things which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses. Now by him, all that believe. What do believers do? They believe.
And let me remind you of this fact, believe doesn't mean you
believe you're saved or you believe you're a Christian. Believe means
you believe who he is. He's the eternal son of God.
He's the son of David, the son of man. He's the God man. And all he died for must be saved
because of who he is. You're relying, all your eggs
are in this basket that when he said it is finished, all that
was needed for your salvation was accomplished. By Him, all
that believe are justified. Now, that word justified means
you're not guilty. That means you've never sinned. That means you've kept God's
law perfectly. That means you've never done
anything wrong and you've always done that which is right. You
see, if you are a believer, the very obedience and righteousness
and merits of Christ are your personal righteousness before
God. Remember that scripture I've
already quoted. 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." Every believer is the very righteousness of
God. That's what justification means.
By him, all that believe are justified from all things. You
know what that means? That means you're not going to
have any skeletons in the closet to be raised back up on Judgment
Day. You are completely justified from all things by which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. You couldn't be
saved by your works. It would be impossible. Now,
Paul closes the message with this warning. Beware, therefore. You just heard the gospel. Beware,
therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the
prophets. And he quotes a scripture from
Habakkuk. Behold, ye despisers. Anybody
who doesn't believe the gospel despises and belittles the gospel. Behold, you despisers, and wander
and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you
shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." Now
you've just heard the gospel. Beware lest you despise and belittle
the gospel. God does not have mercy on that
person who continues despising his gospel. May God give me and
you grace to believe. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.nyvern at gmail.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.