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 chapter
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 law, word, law,
I've told you so many times, quite often in the scripture
talks about the word. 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 scriptures. 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 puts, 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 generally. 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 preach 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 Is this our message also? Is this our message? And I 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 Presidia. They went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day and sat down like we gathered here tonight
Paul came in 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 sat down with his his feet. He was known as
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,
Isaiah, 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 him 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 and 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 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 concerning
the which I did swear to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and I'll give it to you for heritage. I'm the Lord." I turned 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. All right, 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 murmurings, 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 Israel and divided that land up to them in lots to the different
tribes of Israel. 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, but they 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, and this Samuel
now is the prophet in Israel and those judges ruled 450 years
until Samuel now 1st Samuel 8 verse 6 They wanted the king Verse
5 1st Samuel 8 verse 5 All right, 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." All right, let's go back to my text, to Acts 13. This
is what Paul's telling these Jewish people. They know all
this. They know all this. These men he's talking to are
familiar with the Scripture, like you are. They know all of
this that he's saying is true. All right, verse 21, "...and
afterwards they desired a king," Acts 13, 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 in 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. that
Paul has said is so. That's laying the foundation
according to the Scripture, according to the Scripture. Now then, Watson,
he begins to preach Christ, the Redeemer. All right, verse 23. Of this man David see, hath God,
according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, a Redeemer,
Jesus. They know that name, don't they?
He'd been crucified, nailed to a cross. Jesus. Of this man David, tribe 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 either I am
I'm not he I'm not the Christ. I'm not the Messiah But behold
there cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet. I'm not worthy
to lose Who is this Jesus? I was telling them all he's 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 married and her husband
died. 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. And
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, your neighbor, yourself. And they would put
the silence, ask 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, this
is what, 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 apostle. 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 in the sky from 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 11-1, 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 Jesse, 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, 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. 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. 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. The works that I do bear witness. The dead are raised, the blind
see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. Thirdly, the Father hath
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 faith. He's the Christ. All right, 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 an
Israel, Savior, Jesus, God-man. All right, 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 eight 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. All right,
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 kindreds 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 is 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, we talked 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're blinded. They're under God's judgment
right here, 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 those laws. All right, let's hear Paul
talk some more of them. In verse 27, to you is this word
of this 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 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. You people who dwell in Jerusalem
and you're 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 here, they took him down
from the tree. That's what was written in the Old Testament.
Cursed is everyone, 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 that's, this is what he's saying here. Verse 27, they that dwell at
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. or 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, right? Everything Paul is saying here
is exactly what I said. God is the center 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 him to a tree. Then they
took him down. Isaiah said he was crucified between two thieves
and put in a rich man's tomb. That's where they buried him.
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's written
in the second psalm, Thy 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, he said, I will not suffer thy holy one to see corruption.
I'll give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore, he saith
also on another sound, thou will not suffer thy holy one to see
corruption. But he wasn't talking about David.
For David, after he'd served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw
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 the 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, 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's 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 who has 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 preaching,
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. You know, surely he died for
every sin but unbelief, then you're gone, 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. The
law won't. No law was given to save. It
was given to shut these mouths and render us guilty and helpless
and hopeless before God to call on Christ. Now here's his last
point before he sits 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 said, 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, Paul, 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
Raleigh'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. His gospel is my gospel. His
Savior is my Savior. His hope is my hope.