We're turning this morning to
the book of Acts, chapter 13, verse 26. Now, I'd like for you
to listen very carefully to every word that I read in this text. Acts 13, 26. The title of this
message is, To you is the word of this salvation sent. To you
is the word of this salvation sent. Now, listen to each word
of the text. Paul is speaking, and he says,
Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever
among you that feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. Now, Paul and Barnabas preached
the gospel, first of all, to the Jews. We know that from Scripture,
that they went to the Jews, they went to the synagogue, they went
to the temple, they preached the gospel to the seed of Abraham.
This is what the scripture says. Our Lord said to his disciples,
you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem first, in all Judea,
in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. And then
Paul himself wrote in Romans 1 verse 16, the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. In other words, when these
men went out to preach, They preached the gospel, first of
all, to the Jew. But the Jewish leaders and the
people blasphemed and refused the gospel of Christ. If you
look down a little further in Acts 13, just a little bit further
along in verse 45, it describes their attitude and their reaction
to this gospel of Christ. It says the Jews spoke against
the gospel preached by Paul. They contradicted Paul and they
blasphemed. Now, the gospel was preached
to them first, but they refused the gospel. They contradicted
Paul and they blasphemed his gospel. Therefore, Paul waxed
bold and he declared in verse 36, he said, it was necessary
that the word of God should have been spoken first to you, that
is, to Abraham seed, to the Jew. But seeing that you put it from
you, seeing that you're not interested, I turn to the Gentiles. I turn to the Gentiles. Now what
a glorious day that was for you and what a glorious day that
was for me. God's choice servant, the Apostle
Paul, turns to us and he says the same thing that he had said
previously to these Jews. He says to you is the word of
this salvation sin. But now there's a warning, there's
a word of warning that goes along with it. He said, see that you
not neglect and refuse this message. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken to us
by our Lord and was confirmed by them that heard it, like the
children of Abraham? If we neglect this gospel and
refuse this gospel, we may someday find this glorious gospel taken
away from us. Take heed, brethren. Paul, all
the way through the book of Hebrews, we have this warning sounded.
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you, like in these
Jewish leaders, an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from
the living God. But exhort one another daily,
while it is called today, lest you be hardened, lest you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. But right now, to you,
is the word of this salvation sin. Now I have about four or
five things that I want to bring out in this message. I'd like
just to pull my chair up and sit down and talk to you personally
this morning. I want so much for you to listen
carefully to this message. I want so much for you to hear
it. I want so much for you to believe it and to receive it
and be saved by this glorious gospel of God's sovereign and
free grace. And this is the title to you.
That's right to you. Is this Word of Salvation sent? Now, I'm going to ask four questions.
First of all, what is this Word of Salvation? What is this Word
of Salvation? And then secondly, how is this
Word of Salvation sent to you? How is it personally sent to
you? And then the third question will
be this, in what position does this place you? And then fourthly,
how would you treat it? Now, let's look at these four
things. First of all, Paul says, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. Now, what is this word that he's
talking about, the word of this salvation? Well, first of all,
it's the testimony of God that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised
Savior. That's the first thing about
this word of salvation, that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised
Savior. John the Baptist pointed at Christ
and said, Behold the Lamb of God. This is the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. The angels who announced
his birth to Joseph said, Mary will bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he, he is the promised Savior. He shall save his people from
their sins. This is the one of whom Isaiah
wrote, Behold, the Lord himself shall give you a sign, a virgin
shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us. And
when the angels appeared to the shepherds on the Judean hillside,
they said, We bring you good news, glad tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all the people unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour." What I'm saying is this, this
word of salvation declares first of all that Jesus of Nazareth,
who was born of Mary, and lived on this earth thirty-three and
a half years, and died on the cross, was buried, and rose again,
is the promised Messiah. He is the promised Savior. He
is the promised Christ. The Father said that. If you
read the fifth chapter of John, our Lord begins that exhortation
this way. He said, If I bear witness of
myself, If I'm the only witness to my deity, if I'm the only
witness to my office, then my witness is not true. Because
the Scripture says, let every word be established by the mouth
of two or three witnesses. And if I'm the only witness,
Christ said, that you have to my office and to my deity and
to my commission, then you don't have to believe me. But John
bore witness of me. And the father bore witness of
me, he said, This is my beloved son, hear ye him. The works that
I do bear witness of me. And he says, The scriptures which
you hold in your hand, and which you search daily, they are they
which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you
might have life. Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He is the Savior. He is the Redeemer. John said,
This is the record. God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. We know that the Son of
God hath come and given us an understanding, that we may know
him that is true. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life." And then the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy
1.15, this is a faithful saint and worthy of all acceptation,
that Jesus Christ is coming to the world to save sinners of
whom I am chief. What is the word of this salvation?
The very first thing it declares is this, Jesus of Nazareth is
the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is the Redeemer
of his people. Jesus of Nazareth, of whom Simeon
declared, mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Jesus of Nazareth
is our Savior. He's the announced one, he's
the expected one, He is the anticipated one. He is the one who has come.
Don't look for another. All right, here's the second
thing about it now. To you is the word of this salvation sent.
What is this word of salvation? Jesus Christ is the Redeemer.
Secondly, this word of salvation is the proclamation of a perfect
redemption and a perfect salvation through His obedience, through
His death. Now that's what this word of
salvation is. Romans 5, 19 says this, "...for
by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners. Even
so, by the obedience of one," that's Christ, "...shall many
be made righteous." In Adam we die. In Christ we're made alive. Paul said in Galatians 4, "...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
that we might receive the adoption of sons. In 2 Corinthians 5.21,
he was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. There is in Christ a perfect
righteousness, a perfect redemption. a completed salvation. In Him
dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are totally
complete in Him." Nothing needs to be added. Christ has paid
it all. All the debt we owe. Sin left
a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow. And John said,
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Now, my friend, forgiveness and
redemption is not by work. It's not by law. It's not by
human merit. It's by substitution. And that
by the substitutionary work of Christ. He died for our sins. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1, 18,
We are not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold,
from our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish
or spot. What is this word of salvation?
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. And he has completed all that
the law requires, all that the justice of God demands, all that
the sinner needs, and all that heaven requires of all who would
live there. Christ fulfilled it all. All
right, here's the third thing about it. This word of salvation
is the promise of forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe
and receive him as Lord and Savior. It's not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but by His mercy He has saved us. And that
becomes ours not by labor, not by merit, not by works, but by
faith. Now listen to the scripture.
John 1, 12 says, "...as many as received Him, to them gave
He the privilege, the right to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name. When our Lord gathered His disciples
around Him before He ascended to the Father, He said, you go
unto all the world, and you preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. And Paul wrote in Romans 10,
9, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. And Paul wrote in Hebrews 7,
wherefore he is able to say to the uttermost them that come
to God by him. The songwriter put it this way,
come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love and power. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness, all the fitness
that he requires, is to feel your need of Him. What is this
word of salvation? Three things. Jesus of Nazareth
is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He is the Redeemer. Other foundations can no man
lay. There is none other name unto heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. He said,
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. Christ is the Messiah. And he
has completed the work of redemption. He said the Son of Man has come
to seek and to save that which was lost. He left nothing undone. He left no sin unatoned for. He left no righteousness to be
completed. God does not require you to produce
a righteousness but to receive one. He does not require you
to produce a sanctification but to receive one. He does not require
you to produce a redemption but to receive one. Christ finished
the work. When he died on the cross, he
cried so that it might be heard in heaven, earth, and hell. It
is finished. And this promise is to you and
to your children and to as many as the Lord our God shall call,
whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life. Do you believe? Now that's the
word of salvation. It's free. It's free to all who
will believe. Now here's the second question.
How is this gospel this word of salvation sent to you. How
is it sent to you? Well, my friend, very simply,
it's sent to you in that book that you hold in your hand right
now, the Bible. That's the first way it's sent
to you. That book which you have in your home, that book which
unfortunately is neglected by so many people, that book which
you have there on the coffee table or on the end table or
there in your hand, that Bible That book is not a book of history
only. It's not a book of proverbs.
It's not a book to debate and to argue. That book is the book
of redemption. That book is Christ. Christ is
that book. If you'll start in Genesis chapter
3 verse 15, and read about the seed of woman, and go all the
way through to the book of Revelation chapter 22, when John says, even
so come Lord Jesus, I'm saying that every prophet And every
apostle, and every evangelist, and every writer gave witness
to Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. Our Lord one day talked to those
religious leaders who were so diligent to search the scriptures,
and study the scriptures, and argue the scriptures, and translate
the scriptures. He said, you search the scriptures.
You're busy diligently searching the scriptures. For in them,
in the Scriptures, you think you have life, but they are they
which testify, bear witness of me." The Scriptures speak of
Christ. That's what the Scriptures are
all about. This Word of Salvation is sent to you in the Bible,
in the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. In the Old Testament, you have
Christ in promise, Christ in prophecy, Christ in picture,
Christ in symbol, Christ in type. In the New Testament, you have
Christ in person. But Christ is the Bible. And
if you haven't found Christ on every page of the Bible, you've
read your Bible to no avail, because the message of the Bible
is Jesus Christ. And not only is that the way
the gospel is sent to you, but secondly, This word of salvation
is sent to you in the gospel that I'm preaching to you right
now. That's what I'm delivering to you is the word of salvation.
This is not a Baptist message. This is not my message. This
is God's gospel. This is God's message. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
what do we preach? We preach Christ. That's what
the Apostle Paul said. God didn't send me to baptize.
He didn't send me to organize. He didn't send me to promote
or to entertain. He sent me to preach the gospel.
And even in Corinth, among the philosophers and educators and
all of these arguers and debaters, Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's
the way the gospel is sent to you, by preaching. Now listen
to Romans 10. This is so important. Romans
10 declares, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? That's right. How is this gospel
sent to you? It's sent to you in the Bible.
And I would have you read the Word of God. I commend you, as
Paul said to the elders at Ephesus, I commend you to the Word of
God. I commend you to the Scriptures. I command you to read the Scriptures.
I beg of you to read the Scriptures. But listen to faithful men who
preach the Scriptures. Now, notice thirdly, how is this
gospel sent to you, this word of salvation? Paul said, to you
it's sent. It's sent in the Bible. It's sent in the message that's
preached to you. And then it's sent in this way,
in a special way, in the special providence and favor of God that
brought you to this hour and led you to this time to tune
into this program and hear this message. My friends, I boldly
declare unto you that this morning God is crossing your path. Because
I'm not preaching a doctrine only. I'm not preaching a denominational
creed. I'm preaching Christ. And you're
confronted this morning with a person of Jesus Christ. It's
no accident that I'm preaching this message. And it's no accident
that you tuned it in. It's an opportunity and a privilege
and a responsibility that God has given you and it's a special
mercy of God toward you because many people have never heard
this message. That Christ is the Messiah. That
Christ through his obedience to the law has imputed to us
a perfect righteousness. that Jesus Christ by his death
on the cross has satisfied God's justice and honored God's justice
and given us a perfect redemption that Jesus Christ was buried
as our scapegoat and rose as our justifier and ascended to
the right hand of God where he is our only mediator and great
high priest and you are invited, yea, you are commanded to kiss
the Son lest he be angry, to crown the Son To receive the
Son, to believe on the Son, to rest in the Son, to find peace
in the Son of God, and that's a special mercy to you because
many people haven't heard it. That's right. Now, this word
of salvation is sent in another way. It's sent in the Word, it's
sent in the Sermon, it's sent in this special providential
way in which God has brought you to hear it today. Maybe you
tuned in this program, you think completely by accident. Maybe
you didn't even intend to listen to this program, but by God's
providence, you're hearing it. You're hearing it, and it's a
special blessing. And then this word is sent to
you in the fact that this gospel meets your need. You're a sinner,
and this is a sinner's gospel. This is a sinner's gospel. Now,
my friend, a medicine that suits your disease was evidently intended
for you. And I'm saying this, if salvation
comes by merit, you'd be left out because you don't have any
merit by birth, by nature, by practice or choice. You don't
have any merit. I don't either. If salvation
could be earned by works, you and I'd be left out because in
our flesh dwelleth no good thing. But this word of salvation is
for sinners, the chief of sinners, lost people, sons of Adam, needy
creatures, helpless creatures, hopeless creatures, and it's
free. It's free. Come without money or price.
It's free. God says, though your sins be
as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. He said again, for of
God are you in Christ who has made unto you all you need, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That's how this
gospel comes to you. Through the Word, through a faithful
preacher, through the providence of God by letting you hear it,
and then, my friend, the fact that it meets your needs. You're
a sinner. You need mercy. You need grace.
You need God. You need forgiveness. You need
pardon. And there's no place to find it except in Christ. God Almighty will not receive
a sinner except in Christ. You've got to have a suitable
priest and a suitable sacrifice, a suitable sin offering. The
holiness of God has got to be honored. The justice of God has
got to be satisfied. Now briefly, in what position
does this place you? There's responsibility. There's
a responsibility that comes with knowledge. Our Lord said to the
town of Capernaum, He said, Woe unto you, Capernaum, if the mighty
works which are done in you had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah,
they would have remained till this day. Bethsaida, I warn you,
is going to be more tolerable for the city of Tyre and Sidon
in the day of judgment than for you. And my friends, by God's
grace and good providence, you've heard the gospel of God's mercy.
Now, what position does that place you? In what position? Well, it places you in a position
of special favor. Special favor. Kings and princes
and great men have died without ever hearing this good news.
That's so. Listen to 1 Corinthians 2, 7
and 8. Paul said, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which
God ordained before the world, which none of the leaders of
this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of Glory." They didn't hear it. They didn't
know it. Our Lord said to the disciples,
blessed are your eyes, you see. Blessed are your ears, you hear.
And blessed are you to whom the gospel has been preached. Special
favor, special kindness on the part of God. Many people have
never heard this good news, never heard this glad tidings. Israel
had a tabernacle. The Philistines didn't. The Egyptians
didn't. The Amorites didn't. The Amalekites
didn't. Israel had a priest and an atonement
and a mercy seat. The Philistines didn't. You've
heard the gospel. There's plenty of people out
there this morning that have never heard it. It puts you in
a position of hope, too, because God saves men by hearing the
gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
the voice of my truth, the voice of my gospel. And they follow
me. And I give them eternal life.
I give them eternal life. Blessed is the man whom God chooses
and causes to approach unto Him. I'll tell you something else.
In what position does this put you? It puts you in a position
of serious responsibility. For if you neglect to hear this
gospel, if you neglect to receive it, if you neglect to receive
it and believe it, how shall you escape? That's what Paul
said. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?
How shall we escape? How do men neglect this? Well,
by refusing to hear it. Or by confounding and confusing
it with human wisdom. Or by turning to something of
less importance. Or by moving away from where
it's preached. or by hardening their hearts
with pride and arrogance and a haughty spirit. They neglect
it. They let it slip. They let it
slip. In what position does this place
you? My friend, it places you in a position of special favor.
God has spoken to you today. God Almighty has brought you
a gospel that effectually meets your needs. A gospel. His gospel.
He gave it. He ordained it. He executed it. He applied it. He sustains it.
He will perfect it. He's pleased with it. My gospel,
He calls it. My gospel. And it's sent to you
with many proofs and witnesses, His Word, the Lord Himself, His
apostles, It's sent to you as a special favor in the providence
of God. It's sent to you clearly, and
I tell you, it places you under grave responsibility. Will you
hear it? And that's my fourth question,
my final question. How will you treat this good
news? How will you treat this gospel that I've preached? First,
I ask you this. Will you, like the religious
Jews of old, contradict and blaspheme? We have the law of Moses, they
said. We don't need Christ. We have
our heritage in Abraham. We don't need Christ. We don't
need the Son of God. We have these other things. Will
you contradict and blaspheme? Or secondly, will you cry with
the crowd? We won't have this man reign
over us. Give us Barabbas. Crucify Jesus Christ. Or will
you, like Felix, procrastinate and say, well, that's interesting.
That's interesting. When I have a more opportune
time, when I have a more convenient season, I'm going to take care
of this matter." He never did. He never did hear Paul again.
Or will you, fourthly, will you play the hypocrite? Many do. And like Simon Magnus, make a
profession of faith and walk down the aisle and be baptized
while your heart is far from God and you're in the gall of
bitterness. Or will you cry with those who
fell at his feet, my Lord and my God? Or like the thief on
the cross, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. Or
like the apostle Paul, Lord what will you have me do? Or like
the publican in the temple, God be merciful to me a sinner. How
will you respond? Respond you will, because Paul
says we have a word for everybody, to those who are saved, life
and to those who have perished, death unto death. Who is sufficient
for these things? May God give you the wisdom to
lay hold on Christ. Now this message to you is the
word of salvation sent, and one I'll preach next Sunday entitled,
Who Touched Me? Who Touched Me? Or on a cassette
tape, write to us, send two dollars, and we'll mail you the tape.
Until next Lord's Day, God bless you.