Acts chapter 25, I'm taking the
title for the message from what is said in verse 19, whom Paul
affirmed to be alive. Paul affirmed to be alive. Certain had questions against
him of their own religion, and of one Jesus, whom they said
was dead, but whom Paul affirmed that he was the living Redeemer. So I'm taking the title from
those words, Paul's affirmation of the gospel. This is what the
gospel is all about, and which we constantly affirm, as we read
earlier in 1 Corinthians 15, how that Christ died For our
sins, according to the scripture, how that? And how that he was
buried. Why did they bury him? Because
he was dead. They took his lifeless body down
from a tree and prepared it and buried it in that borrowed tomb
of Joseph. Nicodemus and Joseph begged his
body, they took his body down from a tree and put it in that
grave, and then the Roman soldiers sealed it so no one could come
and steal the body away. And all this happened according
to the scriptures. according to the Scriptures,
believing all things that are written in the Law and the Prophets."
We believe all things, don't we, as believers? What do believers
believe? All things written in the Word
of God. Now remember what was going on
in our story about the Apostle Paul. He was brought before Felix
to give an account of what had happened in Jerusalem, and now
he stands before Festus, And then later on we're going to
see he stands before King Agrippa to answer those false charges
of the Jews that were brought against him. Remember they said
in Acts 24, look at verse 5, We have found this man a pestilent
fellow, a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world,
a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. This man is nothing
but a pest, and as a pest, he needs to die because he's bothering
us. All this we know is by the sovereign
will and providence of God, fulfilling of what Ananias, the preacher,
told Paul concerning what he must do. If you want to turn
to Acts chapter 9, you can. Verse 15, the Lord speaking to
this preacher named Ananias. But the Lord said to him, this
is Acts 9, 15. Go thy way, for he is a chosen
vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings
and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. Now, he preaches
before these governors and kings and even in Caesar's court. All
this is arranged and happens. according to the sovereign will
and purpose of God. Now, here's what the scriptures
teach. And because the scriptures teach
these things, we affirm constantly that the Lord Jesus Christ is
everything in salvation. He hath said in the word of God,
so that we may boldly say and constantly affirm that salvation
is totally by the sovereign grace of God. He hath said So we can
boldly say what? I am what I am by the grace of
God. It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling according to God's own purpose and grace. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
we know was the death that he died appointed of God on purpose. Now you can turn with me if you
want to, if not just sit and listen, I'll read it to you.
You remember in Acts chapter two, Peter preaching to those
Jews and all who were gathered there on the day of Pentecost,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel of God, by the determinate
counsel and foreordination of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain whom God raised up having loosed
the pains of death Because it would not be possible that he
should be holding of it. Why wasn't it possible that death
would lay hold on him and keep him dead? Because he put an end
of sin. He put our sin away. Christ's
death as our substitute was real and vital to our salvation. It
wasn't the work that men did that day that's our hope. God
planned the cross, God presided over the cross, and God participated
in afflicting His wrath upon Christ our Redeemer. It wasn't
what men did that day. That's not our hope, is it? It's
what God was doing that day. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him in our room and in our stead. He dies because of our sin being
laid upon him. He bare our sin and his own body
on the tree. Men could not lay the sin of
God's people upon him. That's what God did. God laid
on him the iniquity of us all. We read about it in Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. Now, you can turn and read with
me. I'm going to turn and I'm going to read 2 Corinthians chapter
5, verse 21. This is why he died. He died
as our substitute because our sin was laid upon him. 2 Corinthians
5, 21, for God, that is he, hath made him sin for us. Now, how does that happen? By
the will and purpose of God, God laid on him, he bare our
sin in his own body on the tree, that who knew no sin, he had
no sin and knew no sin of his own, he's a sinless substitute,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's the gospel
in one verse, the whole good news of the gospel. That we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. One other scripture
here, turn one page, 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9. 2 Corinthians 8 verse
9. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, rich in every way,
rich in glory, rich in power, rich in dominion, rich in possessions. Yet for your sake, he became
poor. He impoverished himself with
our humanity. The word was made flesh. He impoverished
himself with our sin. Yet for your sake, he became
poor, became a servant that you through his poverty might be
made rich. There's a very good sermon, I
would encourage you to look it up on Sermon Audio, a sermon
Brother Mahan preached in 1977 from that verse, and he entitled
it, How I Became the World's Richest Man. that you through his poverty
might be made rich." Every blessing we enjoy, every spiritual blessing
we enjoy, is because the Lord Jesus Christ put away our sin
by the sacrifice of himself. His precious blood sacrifice
was not offered unto men, it was offered unto God. That's
why we don't say, well, you can accept his sin offering or you
reject it. The sin offering and atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not offered to men. He was God's
Lamb, God's sacrifice. God's Lamb to put away our sin. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away our sin. His precious blood sacrifice
fully accomplished the putting away of all the sin of God's
people. That's why He came. He appeared
once in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. That's what we affirm. That's
what we preach. That's what we declare. The successful
atonement, particular atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ for
a particular people. for his covenant sheep. Call
his name Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sin. So that's what we affirm. Justification
by his blood. The putting away of sin by the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. That's what
Paul preached. That's what Peter preached. That's
what John preached. That's what all of God's servants
have preached down through the years. Augustus' top lady, Isaac
Watts, John Newton, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, Martin
Luther, all those men preached justification through the blood
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. We affirm that. We believe it
and preach it because we believe it. Not only that, the Lord Jesus
Christ, his burial was also real. They put his dead body, lifeless
body in a borrowed tomb and sealed it and posted the guard to make
sure his friends could not remove his body from the dead and say,
well, he's risen. His body's not here. They were
afraid. He said to them in three days,
you kill me in three days, I'm going to rise again. So those
Jews said to the Roman governor, you make sure to put a Roman
guard there and put a stone on it and seal it. So no one could
say that they came and stole his body. Let's see if we can
find that and read it. Let's turn to Matthew 27. Matthew 27, 62. Matthew 27, 62.
Now the next day, that followed the day of the
preparation, the chief priest and Pharisees came together under
Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that this deceiver said while
he was yet alive, after three days, I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher
be made sure until the third day, lest the disciples come
by night and steal him away and say unto the people, he's risen
from the dead, so that the last error shall be worse than the
first. And Pilate said to them, well,
you have a watch. You go your way and make it sure
as you can. So they went and made the sepulchre
sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. He's not getting out
of there. But wait a minute. In the end
of the Sabbath, as it was toward dawn, the first day of the week
came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre, reading
Matthew 28. Verse 2, And behold, there was
a great earthquake. For the angel of the Lord descended
from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it. And his countenance was like
lightning, his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him,
the keepers did shake and become as dead men. The angel answered
and said to the women, Fear not, I know whom you seek. Jesus which
was crucified He's not here. He's risen Another place in the
book of Luke said why do you seek the living among the dead?
He's not here. He's gone He's gone back to glory This again
is all according to the scripture. It said in Isaiah 53 9 He made
his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death the
wages of sin is death and The soul that sinneth it shall die.
The Lord Jesus Christ taking our sin and God pouring the wrath
of God upon him on the account of our sin because he was guilty
of our sin laid upon him. Sin demands death. His death was real. His burial
was real because he died. And then we affirm constantly Not only that he died, not only
that he was buried according to the scripture, that he died
according to the scripture, but that his resurrection was real.
We affirm constantly and believe that his resurrection is real. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again because he justified us. He put our sin away. That's why death could not hold
him. That's why the grave could not hold him. That's why in the
grave the scripture says he saw no corruption. because he put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Our Lord says this in
the Revelation, I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive
forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death.
If the Lord Jesus Christ did not walk out of the grave, actually,
literally, physically, with a real physical body, if he didn't come
forth from the grave, we'll never be raised from the grave. We'll
never be raised from the dead. His resurrection was real. When he appeared to his disciples,
he appeared to them, he said, behold my hands and my feet.
A spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me have. He was a
real man. The same body that he lived in,
that he died in, was raised up, glorified, changed, but it was
a real body. And that's the body that we're
going to have a glorified body just like our Lord. This has
been the theme of all the sermons we've studied in the book of
Acts. All the way through. You killed the Prince of Life.
You crucified the Lord of Glory. God raised Him from the dead.
God raised Him from the dead. So we affirm and we preach how
that Christ died for our sin according to the Scripture, how
that he was buried, how that on the third day he was raised
from the dead. And we affirm that. Not only
that, his ascension to the right hand of God. Now remember when
he was raised up the third day, how many days did he live among
men in that glorified body? Forty days. Remember, that's
how we started the book of Acts, our study. Turn back over there
to chapter 1. So, when he lived among men for 40 days, Acts chapter
1 verse 3, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion,
after his death, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40
days, and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of
God. Remember over here in Acts 15 we read that He was seen of Cephas and of
the twelve, and after that he was seen above five hundred brethren
at once, of whom the greater part remain under this present,
but some are fallen asleep." And then Paul says, he was seen
of me. Being seen of them forty days,
and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now look
down at verse 9, Acts chapter 1 verse 9. The Lord said, you
receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You'll
be witness unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the outermost
parts of the earth, verse eight, verse nine. And when he has spoken
these things, and while they beheld, he was taken up and a
cloud received him out of sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, Behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, you men of Galilee, why
stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, will come back in like manner as you
see him go." So 40 days, three days in the tomb, raised from
the dead, 40 days living among men. And then one day he walked
outside the city and they watched him ascend to glory. So, we firmly
believe and we preach and declare his
ascension to the right hand of God. When he by himself turned
to Hebrews chapter 1, the Lord Jesus Christ as our forerunner
has entered in for us. We affirm and believe and preach
that the Lord Jesus Christ literally in his body, seated on the throne
of God, there interceding for us. We affirm that and we believe
that. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3, who
being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person,
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he by himself
purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand the majesty on
high. Stay right here in the book of
Hebrews, find chapter 8. Chapter 8, now the things which
we have spoken, verse 1. This is the sum. We have such
a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
majesties in the heaven. Now what's he doing there on
the throne? He's ruling and reigning and controlling all things, interceding
for us right across the page. Hebrews 7 verse 25, wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to
God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Turn to Hebrews 10 on this one
point. And this is a vital point of
the gospel. Not only that he died, not only that he was buried,
not only that he was raised again, but where is he now? Where is
he now? He's at the right hand of the
majesty in the heavens. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12. But this man, speaking of the
Lord Jesus, the God-man mediator, after he had by one sacrifice
for sin, for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Now, why did he sit down? finished. Those Old Testament priests never
sat down. Their atonement was a type and
a picture, but they never sat down. Verse 11 said, Every priest
stands at daily ministering, offering, oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which could never take away sin. Oh, but this man,
Verse 12, Hebrews 10, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sin forever, he sat down on the right hand of God, expecting,
Psalm 110, till his enemies be made his foothold, for by one
offering he perfected forever them that are sanctified. By
the one offering, seated at the right hand of God, there he ever
lived to make intercession for us as our Mediator, one God,
one mediator between men and God. As our advocate, as our
advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, as our mediator, we have one
God and one mediator and one advocate who advocates for us. When you sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. It says of him
in Romans chapter 8, let me just read it to you. Who is he that condemneth it
is Christ that died yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Romans 8, 34. What's he doing
right now? Our Lord Jesus Christ right now,
seated on the throne of glory, interceding for us right now. One day He's going to get up
off that throne, and one day He's coming back to receive us
unto Himself. But now listen to this. The Lord
Jesus Christ, as a representative man, as a forerunner, He came
representing us, right? When He's living for us, He's
living for us, and His obedience is accounted to us. He's living
for us. He died for us. He died for us. His obedience under the law is
made to us, righteousness. He did that as the representative,
as the substitute. He lived for us. He died for
us. He's risen for us. We're risen in Him. He's seated
in heaven. We're seated in Him right now.
Preacher, wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. I'm
saying that representatively, being one with him, united with
our federal head, what he did, we did. By one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of another,
shall many be made righteous. In Christ right now, because
our forerunner has entered in and is seated, we're seated in
him right now. Let me read it to you. Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 4 and 6. Let me just read it to you. But
God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together
with Christ, and raised us up together, and made us sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ. Right now, in my substitute,
I'm seated in Him in glory. Now, If these things are not
so, we have no salvation. We boldly affirm, dogmatically
preach that these things are so, they're true. Not because
I say so. Not because I say so. Because
that's what the word of God teaches. That is why we constantly affirm
and preach. that Jesus Christ is all and
in all in salvation. That's why we are determined
as the Apostle Paul to preach the Lord Jesus Christ crucified
as all our redemption. Any sermon that is not full of
Christ, that does not point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ and
cause sinners to think upon him, look to him, ought not ever be
preached. A Christless sermon is a useless
sermon. Christ crucified is our only
hope of redemption and righteousness before God. That's why we say
with Paul, the gospel of Christ that we're not ashamed of is
a power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. We affirm constantly and believe
fully in our heart that salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. I've given this outline to you
many times, and let me give it to you again. Salvation is of
the Lord in its origination. The gospel is older than creation. God purposed the Lamb to be slain
before the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ
stood as a surety of the covenant. before Adam ever was created,
sinned, or was guilty before God. Salvation is of the Lord
in its origination. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
surety and Savior from the beginning, before this world was created.
Salvation is of the Lord in its execution. It pleased God to
bruise him in our room and in our state, Isaiah 53.10. Salvation
is of the Lord in its application. Who applies salvation? How does
God save sinners? Well, that's the answer right
there. God saves sinners. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. God who begun a good work in
you, he'll finish it. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Fourthly,
salvation is of the Lord in its sustaining power. We're kept
by the power of God through faith. unto the revelation of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord, fifthly,
and it's ultimate glory. That's what everything is all
about, His glory. The grand design of redemption
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we affirm constantly
that salvation is of the Lord. From the beginning to the end,
it's all of God's grace, all in Christ. Man's deeds, man's
work have nothing to do with our salvation. It's all of grace. By the deeds of law shall no
flesh be justified. In eternal election, election
is all of grace. God choosing a people before
the foundation of the world, that's all of grace. Our Lord
said, you didn't choose me, I've chosen you. In our calling and
regeneration, as many as were ordained to eternal life believe
the gospel. No more, no less. Where did we
read that? Doesn't that sound like a scripture
somewhere? as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. We've
read that before in Acts 13, 48. That's what Paul said to
those Gentiles. Then when those Jews heard the
gospel and rejected it, he said, lo, we turn to the Gentiles,
and many as were ordained to eternal life, they believe the
gospel. If you're sitting here today
believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's because God
from eternity purposed you unto, purposed His grace unto you,
given unto you to believe the gospel. We only believe the gospel
by the grace of God. In our election, in our calling,
in our regeneration to our final glory, to our final eternal glorification,
it's all of grace. We are predestinated to be conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be ashamed of that
blessed gospel word, predestination. It's been abused and abused by
many people who hate the gospel, but it's still a Bible word that
God says, "...for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom
he justified, then he also glorified." Notice all past tense. He called, he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
I know what a lot of people say. Well, that's not fair. That's
not right. That doesn't sound right to me.
That's not what I thought. Your thoughts are wrong. What
shall we say to these things? God said, if God be for us, who
can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? That's what we believe and constantly
affirm and preach, that salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Now,
I'm going to do something that I don't think I remember ever
doing this before. I don't think I've ever done
this before. Find your bulletin and look at the back page. You
got a bulletin there? Find your bulletin and look at
the back page. I usually try to write something on the back
page of the bulletin. I want you to read this with
me. I'm going to read it to you. The title of it is Complete in
Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of a Godhead bodily,
and you are complete in Him which is the head of all principality
and power. All that is necessary to secure
our eternal salvation is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I give
those references there. All that may win Christ can be
found in Him. There is a completion or a complete
filling up in Him so as to leave nothing lacking in the center. The Lord Jesus Christ, in the
Lord Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of God, the Godhead
of His fullness. Have we all received grace for
grace? That's the reference there, John
1 16. He is perfect and believers stand perfected in Him. That's so. We affirm, we believe,
we preach. Read on, next paragraph. All
that is lacking in us by our ruin and sin in Adam is abundantly,
freely, eternally supplied in the Lord Jesus Christ. Where
sin abounded, grace is much more bound. His perfect obedience
is our righteousness. His sacrifice for sin is our
atonement. His word is our instruction. His wisdom is our direction.
His power is our protection. His blood sacrifice is our justification. His grace is our salvation, justified
freely by His grace. His eternal love is our security. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. His everlasting
mercy is our hope. not by works of righteousness
we have done, but according to his mercy. His fullness is our
completeness. His immobility, immobility is
our strength. He said, I am the Lord. I changed
not Malachi three, six. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. His resurrection is a guarantee
of our final glory. His intercession is the insurance
of our deliverance from sin. His intercession for us. Now, tell me, my friend, what
could we possibly want for when the whole God is engaged to make
the believer complete in the Lord Jesus Christ to his eternal
glory? We affirm and believe these things
are so. Now, whenever I write an article,
I usually put at the end of the sentence a scripture reference,
and I do that on purpose. Everything a guilty vile sinner
needs to stand before God justified, righteous, reconciled, and accepted
is in Christ. Ephesians 1, 6, what does that
say? We're accepted in the Beloved.
Read this verse again carefully. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Remember that only that which
God provides will God accept. were accepted in the Beloved,
in the Lord Jesus Christ.