Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter
10. I'm entitling the message, taking
the message from the words found in verse 43. Acts 10, 43. To
him, that is to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the judge, sovereign
judge, to him give all the prophets witness. witness we are witnesses
of his majesty that through his name whosoever believeth in him
shall receive done deal shall receive all your sin gone remitted
the blood of Jesus Christ God's son cleanses us from all our
sin so the title I'm going to use for the message is to him
give all the prophets witness. We know that all the prophets,
minor prophets, major prophets, all the Old Testament scriptures,
Moses wrote of him, Abraham believed him, Isaiah wrote of him, Jeremiah
declared he is the Lord, our righteousness, all the prophets
of the past and the preachers of this day all point centers
to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his witnesses. To him
give all the prophets witness. Now, several times in these verses
we read this word witness. Look at verse 39. And we are
witnesses of all things which he did both in Judah, the land
of the Jews, Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree,
him God raised up. We are witnesses. Verse 41, not
to all people, but unto witnesses, chosen, witnesses, chosen. 13 times in the book of Acts,
we read this word witness or witnesses. Turn back to chapter
one, Acts chapter one, where we started. Remember Acts chapter
1, the Lord said in verse 8, you shall receive power after
the Holy Ghost has come upon you. and you shall be witnesses. You see that? Unto me, both in
Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
parts of the earth. I'm glad he included that, because
that includes Zebulun. Wherever Zebulun, Kentucky is,
that's the uttermost parts of the earth. i'm glad he included
that notice in act chapter 1 verse 22 beginning from the baptism
of john unto that same day that he was taken up from us must
one be ordained to be a witness with us of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. To him, give all the prophets
witness, beginning with Moses, that first gospel promise, the
woman's seed that would crush the serpent's head. And we know
that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We know from reading the word
of God, how that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according
to the scriptures, that he was buried, And the third day he
was raised again according to the scriptures, according to
the holy writings given of God. Now last week, Peter had arrived
at the house of Cornelius in verse 33, and Cornelius declared,
we're all here present before God to hear all things that are
commanded thee of God. Now the gospel that we preach
are the things that God has commanded us to declare. Last week we brought
the message from verse 33 down to verse 38. using for a title preaching peace,
preaching peace or declaring peace with God, peace by Jesus
Christ, he's Lord of all. We only have peace with God,
not based upon the deeds of the law, by the deeds of the law
shall no flesh be justified, WE ONLY HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. BEING JUSTIFIED BY
FAITH, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. WHY DO WE NEED PEACE WITH GOD?
SCRIPTURE SAYS THAT GOD'S ANGRY WITH THE WICKED EVERY DAY. I
NEED TO BE RECONCILED UNTO GOD. WE ONLY CAN BE RECONCILED AND
JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD THROUGH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE'S LORD
OF PEACE. PRINCE OF PEACE, AND HE IS LORD
OF ALL. THAT WAS POINT NUMBER ONE, I
THINK, LAST WEEK. GOING ON, VERSE 37 AND FOLLOWING,
VERSE 38, THE WORD I SAY YOU KNOW WAS PUBLISHED, THIS WORD
WAS PUBLISHED, IT WAS DECLARED THROUGHOUT ALL JUDEA, AND IN
GALILEE, JOHN CAME PREACHING, BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD, THAT
TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, And they declared, John did and
others, how God anointed, God blessed the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Christ of God. That's
what the word Christ means. He's anointed in all of his offices,
prophet, priest, and king. We talked about that last week.
He's anointed with the Holy Spirit without measure as a God-man
mediator. God gave him all power. heaven
and in earth that he should give eternal life to as many as the
Father hath given to him the Lord Jesus Christ the one Son
of God in the fullness of time God sent forth his son made of
a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law he went about doing good he was doing the will of the
Father he said my meat is to do the will of him that sent
me and to finish his work he's the only one who could do anything
good, because we're not good. I've never done and you have
never done anything good, never, because the scriptures declare
there is none good, no not one. The good we have is in Christ,
he's our righteousness. He went about doing good, he
healed all that needed healing, he healed all that were demon
possessed, I love what it says of that man, that wild man, that
crazy man, running naked in the tombs. No one could tame him.
He broke the chain till he met the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
he was broken. He was clothed and sitting in
his right man at the feet of Christ, loving him, believing
him. Lord, I want to follow you. He said, you go home and tell
Hal great things I've done for you. He was a witness. Was he a witness too? how God saved him by his grace. Verse 39 now, we are witnesses. We are witnesses. Peter declared
that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners, all that were
oppressed of the devil, all who were oppressed with sin. He healed
all those who had need of healing. The Lord never turned a mercy
beggar away, then nor now. You need mercy? Well, he has
a throne. He sits on a throne of mercy.
Call upon his name. Whoso shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And, verse 39, we begin, and
we are witnesses of all things which he did. Now, he did a lot. One place, and I think it's in
the book of John, it says, if all the things he did were written
and recorded in a book, the world itself could not contain it.
I mean, we have just the tip of the iceberg of all that he
did. But imagine these men were witnesses
living with him. They were eyewitnesses. We've
seen him, our hands have handled him, the word of life. We've
seen his majesty, his glory. We saw him raise the dead. Lazarus,
come forth. We saw him speak to the cripple,
and they went leaping and praising God with joy. We've heard him
and we've seen him cleanse the leper. The leper came and said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He said, I will, be
thou clean. And he was cleansed from his
leprosy. We are witnesses of all things that he did. Now salvation's based upon Not
what you do. Salvation is based upon what
he has done for us. Night and day difference. True
gospel and a false one. Brother Scott Richardson used
to have that saying that went like this. We preach the doing
and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are witnesses of all things
that he did. He went about doing good. He
accomplished salvation for us. He honored the law of God for
us. Obeyed every precept of God's law. He said, I didn't come to
destroy it. I came to honor the law of God and died under the
curse of that law. Satisfied every precept and died
under the penalty of it. That's what it says next. Whom
they slew and hanged on a tree. They killed him. They killed
him. Peter said, you've killed the
prince of life. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain the Lord of glory. Our Lord laid down his life for
us. Remember he said, I'm the good
shepherd. I lay down my life. No man takes
my life from me. But I lay it down. The Lord gave
himself for our sin. They crucified him. They hanged
him on a tree. Why? Because the scripture must
be fulfilled. He must die for our sin according
to the scripture. Now, if you want to turn to Galatians
chapter three, you can. If not, I'll just read it to
you. Most of you are familiar with this. Christ has redeemed
us. From the curse of the law, Galatians 3.13, being made a
curse for us, being made a curse for us, being made sin for us,
guilty because of our sin, being laid upon him. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. Those old Jews,
they would stone a man and then they would hang him on a tree
to show that he was cursed of God. That's why the Lord Jesus
Christ died for our sin according to the scriptures. And Peter
said, we are witnesses. We are witnesses of these things.
Now, what is a witness? Sometimes you get a summons in
the mail to be a witness in a certain jury trial. And you go to that
jury pool and they'll ask you this question, that question,
all the other questions. And you will sit there and listen
to those who will tell and give, who are summoned before the court,
before the judge, to be a witness, a witness of what they've seen,
what they have heard. And they put their hand on the
Bible and they raise their hand. Do you solemnly swear to tell
the truth, the whole truth, so help you God? You better tell
the truth. Well, they have this thing called
perjury. lying under oath and they'll take you away. They find out that you lied on
the witness stand. Now a witness is one who tells
what he knows to be true. Somebody who gives true evidence
after seeing or hearing something is able to declare it truthfully. Now it's pretty hard to tell
what you haven't seen and it's pretty hard to declare what you
don't know. They would call that a false
witness. These apostles were true witnesses
who've seen him, who've heard him, who've handled the words
of life. We've seen him. We've been with
him. We've seen everything he has
done. We are witnesses of his death. They took his dead body
down from a tree. and they laid him in a tomb because
he was dead. Sin demands death. Peter said this in his epistle,
2 Peter 1, we have not followed cunningly devised fables when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eyewitnesses to his majesty. They seen him. These 12 apostles were chosen
of God. It says they're not to all the
people, but unto witnesses chosen. You remember the Lord said, you
didn't choose me, I've chosen you. These 12 men, sinners, chosen
by the grace of God to live with him for three and a half years
in his public ministry, who had the privilege to see the Lord
do many mighty, wonderful miracles. GOD'S GRACE. THIS WAS REAL. THIS WAS TRUE. THIS ACTUALLY
HAPPENED. THE LORD DECLARED HIMSELF TO
BE EVERYTHING THAT HE SAID HE WAS BY THESE MANY MIGHTY MIRACLES. THE LORD SAID THIS, THE SPIRIT
OF THE LORD IS UPON ME BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH
THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED,
TO PREACH DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVES, RECOVERING OF SIGHT
TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THEM THAT ARE BRUISED. He said,
now this is fulfilled in your ears. And we are witnesses of
all that he said and all that he did. Turn over here to Matthew
chapter 11 and let's read about it. Matthew chapter 11. You turn there and let me read
you something here if I can find it in Matthew chapter four. The
Lord Jesus Christ went about all Galilee Teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom healing
all manner of sicknesses and all manner of diseases among
the people Now you've got Matthew chapter 11 But look at verse
1 it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding
his twelve disciples He departed thence to teach and to preach
in their cities now when John had heard in prison the works
of Christ he sent two of his disciples and said unto him art
thou a He that should come or do we look for another? Matthew
11 verse 4 and the Lord answering has said unto them you go show
John Again, those things which you do hear and see. The blind
receive their sight. The lame walk. The lepers are
cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised
up. The poor have the gospel preached
to them. Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. They saw all things that he did. But that's not all. They were
eyewitnesses to his crucifixion, to his suffering, and to his
death. They saw they were with him in
the garden when they came and arrested him. And they saw what
was going on in Pilate's hall, how Peter denied him that he
knew the Lord. Turn back to the book of Acts,
find the book of Acts chapter three. We are witnesses of these
things. In Acts chapter three, verse
14, He said, you denied the Holy
One, Acts 3, 14, and the just one, and desired a murderer to
be granted unto you. Remember they said, give us Barabbas,
away with this man, crucify him. You killed the Prince of Life,
whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. Witnesses to what? To his substitutionary
sacrifice. Now, I want you to find another
place here, find Acts chapter 4, Verse 33, Acts 4, 33. With great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and great
grace was upon them. Now find Acts chapter 5, verse
33. Let's go back to verse 29, Acts
chapter 5, verse 29. Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged
on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be prince and savior, for to give repentance to Israel
and forgiveness to sin. And we are witnesses of these
things. and so also is the Holy Ghost
whom God hath given to them that obey him." The point I'm making
here, these men were true witnesses to all that he did, to his suffering
and his death, his crucifixion as the sinner's substitute, as
the only satisfying sacrifice for our sins. Now, when it says here, whom they
slew, and whom they hanged upon the tree." When we preach, as
Paul said, determined not to know anything among you but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, when we preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it's not enough just to say that
He died. In other words, like I was saying
in the Bible study this morning, the whole gospel message is more
than just Jesus died for our sins. THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE
TO IT. YOU'RE NOT PREACHING THE GOSPEL
WHEN YOU SAY ONLY THAT JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS. IT'S HOW HE
DIED, IT'S WHO HE IS WHO HAS DIED, AND WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED
WHEN HE DIED. HE DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING
TO THE SCRIPTURE AS THE SUBSTITUTE WOUNDED AND BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES. SO WHEN WE SAY THAT CHRIST DIED
FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURE, we must declare what
he accomplished when he died. It's just not that he died, although
he did. What did he accomplish? That's
what's involved when we declare the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He died to redeem us. He died
to put away our sin. He died to fulfill all scripture,
to satisfy the law of God. Let me see if I can make good
on that. Turn to Romans 3. Romans 3. Christ died according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. They did
what God determined before to be done. In Romans chapter 3,
verse 23, says, we've all sinned and come short of the glory of
God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God set forth, foreordained,
ordained to be the propitiation, the atonement for our sin through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are planned through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Romans chapter four.
Verse six, even as David also described the blessedness of
the man to whom God imputes righteousness without work, saying, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
will not impute sin. So when we preach that Christ
died for our sin according to scripture we preach the free
full justification of God's elect by the shedding of his blood
he redeemed us with his own blood alone. Turn to Romans chapter
5 look there Romans chapter 5 verse 6 For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet for a good man some
would even dare to die. But God committed his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more, then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him, For if we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved through His life, saved by His life. The Lord said,
because I live, you shall live also. Can you do one more? Turn to Romans 8. Romans chapter
8. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8, 31, you
got it? 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? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. You
see, it's more than just saying Christ died for sinners. The gospel is much more than
that, involved much more than that. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemns it? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? It goes on and on and on. Till
it says nothing can separate us from the love of God which
is in the Lord Jesus Christ We are witnesses of these things
Christ in him crucified, but that's not all We are witnesses
verse 40 of Acts 10 how God raised him Him God raised up the third
day And showed him openly Showed him openly Not to all the people,
but under witnesses chosen before of God, even us who did eat and
drank with him after he rose from the dead. They were eyewitnesses
to his resurrection glory, delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. You remember our study from the
book of Luke? Turn to Luke 24. Luke 24. they were eyewitnesses to his
resurrection glory, his real body, a glorified body the Lord
gave him. In Luke 24 verse 36, and as they
thus spake, Jesus stood in the midst of them and said to them,
peace be unto you. And they were terrified and frightened
and supposed that they had seen his spirit. And he said, why
are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your heart? Behold my
hand, my feet, that is I myself. Handle me and see for spirit,
act not flesh and bone, as you see me have. And when he had
thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet, and while
they were yet while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered,
he said unto them, Do you have any meat? And they gave him a
piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before
them. Oh, this is a real resurrected God, man, mediator. 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
are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophet, and in the
psalm concerning me. He died for our sin according
to the scripture. Then he opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. 61 times I think
it says it uses that word scripture and scriptures the holy writ
what it means And then thus it is written and thus it behooved
Christ to suffer to rise from the dead the third day That repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations beginning at Jerusalem and you are Witnesses of these
things now, that's what we do when we preach the gospel we
declare what we know and At least I try to. It's pretty hard to
tell what you don't know. I try to tell out what God has
given to me. The whole gospel message, him
God raised up the third day and showed himself openly. TO THE
APOSTLES, TO THE WOMEN, AND THEN IT SAYS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15,
ONE TIME, FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE SAW THE RESURRECTED LORD. THE WHOLE GOSPEL MESSAGE STANDS
OR FALLS UPON THE FACT OF HIS RESURRECTION. IF JESUS CHRIST
IS NOT RAISED FROM THE DEAD, WE HAVE NO SALVATION. WE HAVE
NO FORGIVENESS. HE PROVES HIMSELF TO BE AN IMPOSTER
IF HE'S NOT SEATED ON THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD. WE
HAVE NO SALVATION. WHEN HE BY HIMSELF THE SCRIPTURES
TEACH WHEN HE BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR SIN HE SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT
HAND OF GOD. HE LIVED AMONG MEN FORTY DAYS
AFTER HIS RESURRECTION GLORY AND THEN ONE DAY THE MEN WALKED
OUTSIDE THE CITY AND THEY WATCHED HIM BODILY ASCEND TO HEAVEN TO
THE THRONE OF GOD WHEREVER THAT IS. WHEREVER IT IS The God-man
mediator is seated upon it. And there he ever lives to make
intercession for us. We pray in his name. We approach
God in his name. God has given him a name which
is above every name. At that name, every knee will
bow, every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, if
you look through all the messages, that the Apostles preached in
the book of Acts, nearly every one of them mentions the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. 37 times I counted, the Apostles
talked about the resurrection. You killed him. You killed the
prince of life. God raised him from the dead.
You crucified the Lord of glory. And then they didn't stop there.
God raised him from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again. because he justified us. That's our message. Verse 42,
Acts 10, he commanded us to preach. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. Paul from prison writes to Timothy
and says, I charge you before God who shall judge the living
and the dead. Preach the gospel. Preach the
gospel in every season. He commanded us to preach the
gospel unto the people, the gospel of God. He commanded us to preach
Christ and Him crucified, and to testify, to preach and to
testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the judge
of the living and the dead. He commanded us to go, and we
go and we preach and we testify and we witness of his person
and his worth. We also declare that the Lord
was ordained, or as it said, foreordained before the foundation
of the world. He is a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. And Peter says this in his epistle.
He said, you are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
a lamb without blemish and without spot, who was verily foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last days for us. He was ordained. He was ordained
of God, foreordained, preordained, predestinated. To be conformed
we are to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's your judge. The Father judged no man, but
committed all judgment unto the Son. Turn to Acts 17. Acts 17. Verse 31. God has appointed a day. It's
in Acts 31. He's appointed that a man wants
to die, and after that, judgment. Because He has appointed a day
in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom He has ordained. whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men that he raised him from the dead. We are witnesses
of his death. We declare Jesus Christ in him
crucified. We declare Jesus Christ risen
from the dead as a victorious, conquering Savior. Thanks be
to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We declare that he is the righteous judge, shall not the judge of
all the earth do right? Yes, he will. Of the living and
the dead, verse 43, to him give all the prophets witness. All
the prophets witness. What are they? The prophets of
the past and the preachers of the day. Turn to Ephesians chapter
one, and I'll quit with this. How about Ephesians chapter two?
Let's find that. That'll work better on this point.
Now therefore, verse 19. You are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and the household
of God, and are built upon, verse 20, the foundation of the apostles
and the prophets. What is the foundation of the
apostles and the prophets? Jesus Christ being the chief
cornerstone. in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in
whom you also are building together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ is a righteous
judge of all. To him give all the prophets
witness that, back to the text, verse 43, that through his name,
through his name, through his person and his work, through
his name, Know the name under heaven, remember? Given among
men whereby we must be saved, Acts 4.12, that through his name,
whosoever believeth, doesn't matter who he is, Jew, Gentile, young, old, rich,
poor, educated, uneducated, whosoever. My pastor used to say this, that's
a wide word. I'm glad that he said whosoever
because that includes this whosoever. Whosoever, and a lot of people
look at that word whosoever and think, well, that is promoting
freewillism. Whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. Whosoever, what's the next word?
Believeth. Whosoever believeth. How do you
believe the gospel? The power of God. These folks
here believe the gospel, it says in verse 44, because the Holy
Ghost fell upon them which heard the word. Whosoever believeth
in him shall receive, and here's what we need, sin remitted. Blessed
is that man, we read a moment ago, blessed is that man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin. He can't charge me with my sin.
What? God can't punish my substitute
for my sin and then turn around and punish me for the same sin. If he dealt with my substitute,
there's no condemnation to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
To him give all the prophets witness that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall receive sin, sin, the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. Well, this story had a happy
ending. You want to hear the rest of the story? Verse 44 and following. The Holy
Ghost fell on these folks. The Holy Ghost fell on them like
a like a powerful rock who crushed their heart, broke them. They
heard the word of God and the Holy Ghost, the gift to declare
what God had done to them, done for them and in them. And these
believing Jews heard these believing Gentiles magnify God, being made
a new creature in Christ, speaking things that they had never learned,
how God saves sinners by his grace. And Peter declared, can
any man forbid water baptism, saying, that they have received
the Holy Ghost by the one Spirit and we all baptized into the
one body, Paul said, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism does not save. Baptism
is not essential to salvation. Baptism is simply an ordinance
that God has given to his church for us as believers to identify
with his death, burial, and resurrection. It does not put away sin. It
does not put us into Christ. It does not regenerate us. It
does not give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's simply
an ordinance as the Lord has given us the Lord's table. The
Lord's table. We're going to partake of the
Lord's table in a minute. These elements have no saving
power. The Lord said this do in remembrance
of me. Baptism has no saving power. Salvation is of the Lord. We
are baptized according to his command to publicly confess before
men that his death, his burial, and his resurrection is all our
hope. Same when we take the Lord's
table. We're declaring that his broken body and his shed blood
is all of our hope before God.