is indeed our only foundation
and a sure foundation and a cause for assurance and hope. But here's
what Luther said, feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. And though all my heart should
feel condemned, often it does, by lack of some sweet token,
I know one greater than my heart, and his word cannot be broken. So I'll trust in God's unchanging
word till soul and body sever. The words of men will pass away. God's word abides forever. And when Paul the Apostle brought
to a close this first epistle to the Corinthian church, the
church he loved. He wrote two long epistles to
the church at Corinth. And when he brought to a close
the first epistle to the Corinthian church, this is what he said
in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, and which also you have received,
and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received. How that Christ died for our
sins. And here are four of the most
important words that I can speak. According to the Scriptures. According to the Scriptures.
That's what Luther's talking about. The Scriptures. The Scriptures. The Word of God. He died for
our sins according to the Scriptures. Now look at the next verse. And
he was buried And he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. Over in the book of Isaiah chapter
8, verse 19 and 20. Isaiah chapter 8, verse 19 and
20. Always submit what you believe
to the Scriptures. Let me always submit what I preach
to the Scriptures. Not to my feelings, my thoughts,
but to the Word of God. That's what Paul is saying. He
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried
and rose again according to the Scriptures. In Isaiah 8, verse
19, And when they shall say to you, Seek unto them that have
familiar spirits, people who hear voices get new revelations. And they tell you to seek unto
wizards that peep and that mutter. Should not a people seek unto
their God? Shouldn't we go to God? Are we
going for the living to the dead? Going to get information about
a living God from dead? Adam's dead son? Here's the place
to go, to the law and to the testimony. The word law, I've
told you so many times, quite often in the Scriptures, it talks
about the Word. The Law is the Word of God. The
Law and the Prophets, that's the Word of God. Don't go to
wizards that peep. Don't go to those with familiar
spirits. Don't go to the dead seeking
information about the living. Go to the Word, to the law, to
the testimony, to the Scripture. If they speak not according to
this Word, it's because there's no light, there's no morning,
there's no dawning, there's no light in them. And that's what
I want to do tonight. You know, John prayed a moment
ago. He said, Lord, enable us. I remember exactly what he said.
Enable us to leave here tonight rejoicing in our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what I plan
to do tonight is preach so that every believer will leave here
tonight rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ, in our Redeemer. And what I plan to do is something
a little different. In seeking to preach to you on
assurance and confidence and rejoicing in Christ, I want to
go to the Book of Acts, Chapter 13, and I want to find a sermon
by the Apostle Paul. I want to take a message that
he preached, the Apostle Paul. I want to go to the Word. That's
what Luther said. Go to the Word. That's what Isaiah
said. Go to the Word. That's what Paul
said. Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. I
want to go to the Book of Acts, Chapter 13, and look at a message,
a sermon that the Apostle Paul preached in the synagogue one
Sabbath morning to his people. His sermon. And this is what
I think. What could be better for my assurance
of faith than to turn to one of the Lord's chosen apostles,
the one he said that he chose to be an apostle to us Gentiles. to bring the message of Christ
to us. What could be better for my assurance
of faith and my confidence than to turn to one of the sermons,
word for word, that Paul preached to the early church, to the early
believers, to the people to whom he preached. And as I'm looking
at that message of Paul, I ask this question. Is the gospel
I preach the same gospel he preached? That's a good question, isn't
it? Is the gospel I preach the same
gospel he preached? My points, are they his points?
My doctrine, is it his doctrine? My message, is it the message
that this man, called by God to be an apostle, separated to
the gospel, who was so obsessed with the gospel he called it,
my gospel. And he said there's no other gospel. If any man preaches
any other gospel than the gospel I preach, let him be accursed.
Is my message his message? Do we preach, believe, and rest
in the same hope of redemption in which he rested? Well, that
can be determined by looking at this message and examining
our own. And this is the title of the
message. Is this our message also? Is this our message? And I'll
tell you if it is. If what God led Paul to preach,
if that's what I'm preaching, that's what you're believing,
then we have every reason to have the same hope he has, same
confidence, same joy, same rest, same peace. All right, let's
look at it. Verse 13 of Acts 13. Now, when Paul and his company,
those who were with him, Barnabas and that time John was with him
and I suppose several others, when Paul and his company loosed
from Papus, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John, departing
from them, returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga,
they came to Antioch in Pisidia. And they went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day and sat down, like we gathered here tonight.
Paul came in and sat down. Those Jews had met together on
Saturday, on Sabbath day, in the synagogue to read the Word,
to hear from their rabbis or their rulers, their teachers,
scribes, Pharisees. And Paul came in and sat down
with his people. Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin.
Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. Paul graduated from the best
school of his day, the school of Gamaliel. They all knew him
and knew his knowledge and his background, his heritage, his
ancestry, that he was a Jew. And so after he sat down, verse
15, they read the Word like we do. Just, if you think a little
bit about the way we read, get up here and read the Word. And
they read the Word. They read verse 15, the reading
of the Law and the Prophets. They probably read Jeremiah or
Isaiah or somebody from the Scriptures. The rulers of the synagogue sent
unto them, saying... I don't know what it means by
sent unto them, but there sat Paul and Barnabas and whoever
was with him, and he sent somebody to them, or else he addressed
them from where he was standing. Ye men and brethren, If you have
any word of exhortation for the people, speak." Now this is just great. Paul's going to speak. I'm going
to listen to it. And I want you to listen. While
you're listening to Paul speak, I want you to ask him this question.
Is our pastor preaching what he's preaching? When Paul was
invited to stand up and address, these are the people of whom
Paul said, I could wish myself a curse from Christ for my brethren
according to the flesh. That's who he was talking to.
He stood up there. He's very surrounded by all these
Israelites and Jews. And he had said this, wrote this
in Romans 9, I have great sorrow, continual heaviness in my heart
for my brethren according to the flesh. I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for their salvation. Now he's not going
to compromise. He's going to tell them the truth.
And he wrote also in chapter 10 of Romans, I bear them record.
They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They're
going about to establish their own righteousness. Now this man
gives him an opportunity to stand and talk. Let's see what he says. He starts where they are. Now
listen to it. He starts where they are. Verse 16 says, Then
Paul rose, stood, and beckoned with his hands for quiet, for
attention. waved his hand. Men of Israel,
ye that fear God, listen to me. The God of this people of Israel
chose our fathers. No doubt about that. He chose
Israel. And exalted the people when they
dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. And with a high arm,
a mighty arm, he brought Brought he them out of it. Now, you have
any doubt about that? That's what I preach. This is
my message. God chose Israel. And I read it in the Scriptures.
Let's turn to Exodus just a moment. Exodus 6. Exodus chapter 6. I want you to read this. Exodus
6, verse 6. Exodus 6, verse 6. Wherefore
say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rid you
out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched-out
arm, with great judgment. I will take you to me for a people,
and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am
the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians, and I will bring you into the land. concerning
the witch I did swear to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and I'll give it to you for heritage. I'm the Lord." I turn to Deuteronomy. This is what these men, Paul's
starting with them where they are. The Lord chose Israel. He bypassed Philistines, all
the other Amorites, Egyptians. He put a difference between Israel
of the nation. In Deuteronomy 7, verse 6, talking
about Israel now, Deuteronomy 7, 6, For thou art a holy people
unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people. You were the fewest of all people. But because the
Lord loved you, because he would keep the oath. What did he say
to Abraham? He swore by himself because he
could swear by no greater. God confirmed it with an oath.
The Lord loves you because you keep the oath which He has sworn
unto your fathers, that the Lord brought you out with a mighty
hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the
hand of Pharaoh out of Egypt. Alright, verse 18, back in our
text, Acts 13. The Lord chose Israel. Verse
18, And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners
in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven
nations in the land of Canaan, He divided their land to them
by lot. What's He saying here? He's saying
that Israel was not a perfect people. God showed mercy to them
in spite of their murmuring, in spite of their rebellions,
In spite of all this, God loved them and brought them out with
a mighty hand and drove out of Canaan seven established nations. They owned that land. They had
that land. God drove them out and gave it
to Ishmael and divided that land up to them in lots to the different
tribes of Ishmael. That's right. All right, verse
20. That's so. After that, he gave
unto them judges. Gideon was a judge. All the different
judges. He gave them judges for about
450 years until Samuel the prophet. In other words, Israel was judged
and ruled by these special men, judges. God raised Samson was
a judge. Gideon was a judge. God raised
up these different men to judge Israel. And God was their king. But they wanted a king like the
other nations. He says in verse 20, verse 21,
"...afterwards they desired a king." Let's read about that over in
1 Samuel 8. They weren't satisfied with God
ruling over them and speaking to them through the prophets
and judging them for the judges, but in 1 Samuel... Samuel now
is the prophet in Israel, and those judges ruled 450 years
until Samuel. Now, 1 Samuel 8, verse 6, they
wanted a king. Verse 5, 1 Samuel 8, verse 5,
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not
in thy ways. Now, make us a king. This is
Israel talking to Samuel. Make us a king to judge us like
the other nations. What a mistake. God's people want to be like
the other nations. They want to do like the other
nations, or be like the other nations, or act like the other
nations. God made a difference between
His people and the other nations. And verse 6, And the thing displeased
Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel
prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel,
hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say to
thee. Sometimes the Lord leads us to
ourselves. I want my way and God lets me
have it. And I'm always sorry. And these
people were too. God said, let them have their
way. For Samuel, they've not rejected you, they've rejected
me. that I should not reign over
them. Alright, let's go back to my text, Acts 13. This is
what Paul is telling these Jewish people. They know all this. They
know all this. These men he is talking to are
familiar with the Scriptures like you are. They know all of
this that he is saying is true. Alright, verse 21, And afterward
they desired a king, Acts 13, verse 21, God gave unto them
Saul, Son of Sis. Saul was an impressive man. He
was head, scripture said, head and shoulders above other men.
He was a big man, impressive man, an intelligent man. They chose him. They elected
him king. He ruled 40 years. But notice
this, he was a man of the tribe of Benjamin. Tribe of Benjamin. You know what
Joseph said, the scepter shall not depart from Judah. That's like picking a priest
out of another tribe besides Levi. They chose a man of the
tribe of Benjamin. David came from Judah. Judah,
that's the kingly tribe. But they picked a man of the
tribe of Benjamin. And he ruled for the space of
40 years, verse 22, and when God removed him, He raised up
unto them David to be their king, to whom also He gave testimony
and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after
mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. It's all true. And I imagine these Jews are
sitting there saying, Amen. That's so. That's good. That's
so. Paul has said so. That's laying
the foundation according to the Scriptures. According to the
Scriptures. Now then, what's this? He begins
to preach Christ, the Redeemer. All right, verse 23. Of this
man David seen, hath God, according to His promise, raised unto Israel
a Savior, a Redeemer, Jesus. They know that name. He'd been
crucified. Nailed to a cross. Jesus. Of this man David, child of Judah,
root of Jesse, of his seed, God, according to his promise, raised
up a Savior to Israel. Jesus. Read on. And when John
the Baptist had first preached before his coming, Baptism of
repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled
his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. I am not the Christ. I am not
the Messiah. But behold, there cometh one
after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Who is this Jesus? Paul is telling
them all. He is the Son of David. He's
the son of David. He's the seed of David. When
our Lord talked to these Jews, and they had asked Him all these
questions, one of them said, well, tell us about the resurrection. A woman's married, and her husband
dies, she marries another, and he dies, she marries another,
and she marries several men. Who's going to be her husband
in the resurrection? Our Lord dealt with that question. Then
one of them said, well, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?
Is it all right? Is it lawful for God's people
to pay tax to an earthly ruler? He dealt with that. They asked
him another one. One of the lawyers said, Well,
which is the greatest law? And our Lord said, Love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as
yourself. And they were put to silence. Asked him no more questions. And he said, Tell me, you tell
me, what think ye of the Christ, whose Son is the Christ? He's
not saying, what do you think of me? He said, what do you think
of the Christ promised in the Old Testament? What do you think
of the Christ? And they said, he's the son of
David. And he said, Christ said, then
how did David call him Lord? How can he be David's son and
be David's God? And they couldn't answer that.
This is what Paul is bringing out right here. of this man's
seed, David. God has raised up Christ the
Savior according to His promise. You see it there? Verse 23. Is this our message? This is
what I preach every Sunday. Paul in Romans 1 said this, I'm
a servant of Jesus Christ. I'm called to be an I'm separated
to the gospel of God which He promised before by His prophets
in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord
who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared
to be the Son of God." Paul's sermon first point is my first
point always. Who is Jesus Christ? You see, He's the seed of woman.
God, according to promise, He said to the woman, to the serpent,
the woman's seed will bruise the serpent's head. He's the
seed of Abraham. God said when He took Abraham
out to look at the stars, He said, you'll have a people as
the stars of the sky for every nation. Abraham says, I have
no son. You'll have one. And of your
seed, and that seed is Christ. And then the Scripture tells
us he'll be the seed of Jesse. Turn to Isaiah 11. I want you
to look at this. This gives me so much comfort,
and I hope it does to you that our gospel is the gospel Paul's
preaching here 2,000 years ago nearly in that synagogue with
all those Jews sitting around, the rulers and priests and scribes
and Pharisees, and he's given the simple message that I preach
here every Sunday. Isaiah 11, verse 1. And there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Who is Jesse?
David's daddy. And a branch shall grow out of
his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, verse 10.
And in that day there shall be a root of justice which shall
stand for an ensign. I'm the Lord, your banner, an
ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek,
and His rest shall be glorious." That's Christ. That's Christ
our Lord. All right, let's go back. I've
got to get back to my text. Acts 13. Paul said there in verse Verse 23, of this man's seed,
hath God, according to His promise, His will, raised up God sent
His Son, a Savior, a just God and a Savior. Those angels said
to the shepherds under years born this day in the city of
David, a Savior, Christ the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. Then in verse 24, he said, John
the Baptist preached before his coming. Before Christ came, John
came preaching. One time our Lord was talking
to these Pharisees in John the 5th chapter. I'm not going to
ask you to turn there. You're familiar with it. He's talking
to them in the 5th chapter. And He told them of His mission. to redeem his people. But he
said, if I bear witness myself, my witness is not true. If I'm
the only witness concerning what I'm saying and claiming, it's
not so. But he said, I have other witnesses.
First of all, he said, John the Baptist bore witness of me. Remember? And you received his witness,
he said. You said he was from God. Secondly, The works that
I do bear witness. The dead are raised, the blind
see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. Thirdly, the Father has
borne witness to me. The Father said, this is my Son
in whom I am well pleased. And then He said, the Scriptures. You search the Scriptures. In
them you think you have life. There they which testify of me. He's the Christ. Alright, I've
got to get to the second point in Paul's message here now. Let's
look down. First point is this. Of this
man's seed that God, according to His promise, raised up in
Israel a Savior, Jesus, God's man. Alright, verse 26. Men and
brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, Jews, Israelites,
and whosoever among you feareth God, to you, is the word of this
salvation sin. Do you have any doubt about that?
That God sent it to the Jew first? If you do, let's turn to Romans
chapter 1. Jesus Christ the Lord was born
of the tribe of Judah in the city of David, Bethlehem, His
mother, Mary, was a direct descendant of David. Jesse, direct descendant. His foster father, Joseph, that's
the reason they were in Bethlehem at that time, being taxed, because
they were Jews. And their son, born out of her
womb, was a Jew. Joseph, right back to David,
his house and lineage. When Christ was 8 days old, He
was circumcised by a Jew at the temple. When He was 12 years
old, He took Him to the temple according to the custom, according
to the law. Everything was according to the
law. Every Sabbath day, Jesus of Nazareth was in the synagogue
as His custom was. He was a Jew. He came unto His
own. His own received Him not, but
He came to Him. Now listen to Romans 1 verse 16. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel, Paul said, of Christ. It's the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first.
Also to the Greek. To the Jew first. Alright, Acts
chapter 3. Let's turn back there and look
at this. Acts chapter 3. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew. In Acts chapter 3, verse 25 and
26. Listen to this. You children of Israel, you children
of the prophets, children of the covenant, I want you to see
this, Acts 3.25, which God made with our fathers, saying unto
Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kingdoms of the earth
be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his son Jesus,
sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your
iniquity. We Gentiles are included, but the covenant was made with
Abraham. Made with Abraham. And our Lord
came... Let me show you in the chapter
we're in now, Acts 13. Look at verse 46. This is Paul
speaking here now. He went to the Jew first, just
like every town he went in, the first place he went was the synagogue.
In Acts 13, 46, then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said,
it was necessary that the word of God should first have been
spoken to you. But seeing you put it from you,
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. Lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. Remember, Paul was talking about
that Sunday, Romans chapter 11. Had God cast away his people? No, Paul said, I'm a Jew, and
the other Jews, but they are blinded. They're under God's
judgment right now, but the gospel came to them first. First. And then it came to the Gentiles.
And maybe in God's good providence, someday it'll go back to the
Jews. I do not know. But that's my message, too. That's my message. Our Lord,
you see, He was born under the law. He was made of a woman,
made under the law, under the moral law, under the ceremonial
law. All of those laws in the Old Testament, Christ kept. He
kept those laws. All right. Let's hear Paul talk
some more now. In verse 27, to you is this word
of the salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem,
and their rulers, because they knew Him not, they didn't know
Christ. They didn't receive Him. Now
here's the sad thing, and they didn't know the voices of the
prophets which were read every Sabbath day. He's standing here
talking. These fellows just got through
reading these prophets. Just got through reading the
Word. They said, Paul, you have something to say. This is what
he's saying. Christ came. This Word of salvation
and the gospel redemption by the God-man, the Savior, was
sent to you. But you people, you people, who
dwell in Jerusalem, and your rulers, the Jews, the Pharisees,
the chief rulers, the chief priests, they did not know Him. They did
not know the message of their prophets that are read every
day. Every day. Christ is the message
of the Scriptures. It's read every day. Listen. And they have fulfilled these
very Scriptures condemning Him, putting Him to death. Though they found no cause of
death, he was perfect. Pilate said three times, I found
no fault in him. They said, crucify him. They found no fault. Perfect
man. You know, if it had been any
of us on trial, they'd have found something. Any human being, that's the reason
people are afraid to run for president now. They know they
can dig up something. The best men can't run. Best
leaders. Because they can't stand the
searchlight. And you couldn't either, and I couldn't either.
But our Lord, they found no fault. He's perfect. He's sinless. And
yet they desired Pilate that he should be slain. Sinless. No fault. The only sinless man.
Yet they desired to have him killed. Look at the next verse.
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, the
Passover lamb, The brazen serpent lifted up. They'll sell me for
30 pieces of silver. That's in the Old Testament.
They'll pierce my hands and my feet. They'll crucify Him. Look at here, they took Him down
from the tree. That's what was written in the Old Testament.
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. They did everything
that was prophesied of Christ. They did their will. They did
what they wanted to do, but they did what God determined to be
done. And this is what He is saying here. Verse 27, "...they that dwell
in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn't know Him."
They didn't know their God, their Lord, their Christ. They didn't
even know the voices of the prophets read to them every Sabbath day.
And they fulfilled these things in condemning Him. And though
they found no cause of death, no fault, yet they desired Pilate
that he should be killed. And when they fulfilled all that
was written, he died for our sins according to the Scriptures."
Isn't that what we read? According to the Scriptures.
You see, Christ, every step, He said, the words that I speak,
the words that my Father sent me, the works that I do, they're
His works. Everything in the life of our Lord was ordained
of God. Let's read that one more time,
Acts chapter 4. Let's read that. These wicked
men did what they did willingly and what they wanted to do, but
they did it fulfilling what was written of them. In Acts 4, verse
26, the kings of this earth stood up and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against His Christ. For of a
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel, were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before it to be done." Is this not our
message, Ryan? Everything Paul is saying here
is exactly what I said. God is a sinner's Savior. Christ. To the Jew, the message
came. They rejected it. God called
the Gentiles. Everything written in the Old
Testament, seed of woman, seed of Jesse, seed of David, seed
of Abraham, Passover lamb, all of these things, they fulfilled. Nailed them to a tree. Then they
took him down. Isaiah said he was crucified between two thieves
and put in a rich man's tomb. All right, point number four.
God raised him from the dead. God raised him from the dead.
This was the central point of the apostolic message. Everybody
knew that Jesus of Nazareth lived, and everybody in that day knew
he died. The issue was, did God raise
him? They forbid the apostles to preach
the resurrection. That was the issue, the resurrection
of Christ from the grave. Because many religious reformers
had lived and died and were in the grave. But this man, God
raised him. And I'll tell you, God raised
him and gave evidence that He raised him. Listen to these next
verses as Paul keeps on talking. Verse 30, God raised him from
the dead, and he was seen many days of them which came up with
him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who were his witnesses to the
people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise
which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same to
the children, in that he raised up Jesus again. As it is written
in the second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. And as concerning, he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption.
You know, I will not suffer thy holy one to see corruption. I
will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore, he saith
also in another psalm, thou will not suffer thy holy one to see
corruption. But he wasn't talking about David.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers in self-corruption. He's talking about the Christ.
You've got to turn with me two pages over to Acts 17. This is
why God, well, there are many reasons why God raised him. He's
our justifier. He's our great high priest. He's
exalted redeemer. He's the first forgotten from
the dead because I live, you live. But here's the powerful
message of the resurrection. In Acts 17, 31. Because God hath appointed a
day in which he'll judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." That's what
Paul is saying. Is this our message? It is indeed. And I tell you, it just gives
me so much comfort. I'm reading a message that Paul
preached back yonder so many years ago. And it's a selected
message because he's preaching to people he's burdened by, broken
by. He wants them to know God, His
nation, His people. And this is what he says. Now
what's the fifth point? Verse 38, Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, through
this God-man, through Him, Christ Jesus, by Him, through Him, because
of Him, through Him, is preached to you
the forgiveness of sins. Be it known unto all of you,
and to the whole world, one gospel, through this man is preached
to you, the pardon and forgiveness of all sins, past, present, and
future, through his righteousness, through
his blood." Is that our message? That's it. And by him, all that believe,
believe what? Believe God's record, God's Word
concerning Christ. God gives us that faith, I know
that. But we believe it. Willingly, lovingly, I believe,
I believe, Paul, I believe you. He's standing there facing, and
I believe you. And I'm going to go and tell
everybody what you told them that day there in the synagogue. And by Him, all that believe
are justified. Not just pardoned and forgiven,
they're justified, just as if they'd never sinned. They're
justified. From all things. Do you know surely he died for
every sin but unbelief? Then you're a goner. Because
that's your cheap sin. People tell me that. Christ paid
the debt of the whole world, died for every man's sin except
one sin, unbelief. Well, if that's so, we're gone.
Because that's our greatest sin. That's our greatest sin. And
that's the greatest sin of believers, is unbelief. Our faith is imperfect, but our
Savior is perfect. Our Savior is perfect. And you'll
be justified from all things from which you could never be
justified by the law of Moses. The law won't save anybody. No
law was given to save. It was given to shut these mouths
and render us guilty and helpless and hopeless before God. Now here's his last point before
we sit down. Now beware, he said. Don't you get comfort from this.
This is what we preach, Jim. This is what we believe. This
is what John, what you preached last Sunday in Crossville, what
you preached last Sunday in Madisonville. The points are the same. Who
is he? What did he do? Why did he do it? Where is he
now? Paul winds it up. He says, Now
beware, lest that come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets,
behold, ye despisers and wanderers perish. For I work a work in
your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare it to you." And when the Jews went out of the synagogue,
some of the Gentiles that were there on the outskirts, they
came and said, How about next Sabbath day preaching for us? We like what we just heard. The
Jews went out murmuring. They said, would you come preach
for us? I want to hear this again. Well, you be here Sunday, and
Bobby's going to preach this Sunday morning. I'm going to
preach this Sunday night. Doesn't that give you comfort
to the Scripture? And we just sat at the feet of
Paul, and I can say his message is my message. His gospel is
my gospel. His Savior is my Savior. His
hope is my hope.