Please take out your copy of God's Word and turn to Acts chapter 13.
Acts chapter 13, our text for today is verse 13 through verse 43.
There is much talk today in the church concerning vision for the church.
And that term is typically used, thinking of casting compelling dreams for the life of an organization.
And most talk of vision casting begins with a reference to a particular verse,
or I should say the first half of a particular verse, which is Proverbs 29.18.
Most often quoted from the King James Version, where there is no vision, the people perish.
You may be familiar with this.
Rick Warren, who is the pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of The Purpose Driven Life and other books that start with purpose driven.
If you are a good Christian this morning, you may be wearing your purpose driven life boxers.
said,
My imagination influences my aspiration.
In other words, your dreams determine your destiny.
To accomplish anything, you must first have a mission, a goal, a hope, a vision.
And then he quotes the first half of 29.18 from the King James Version.
And without a vision, the people perish.
Bill Hybels, the pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, one of the largest attended churches in America,
averages 24,000 in attendance each Sunday, wrote this.
Proverbs 29.18 says,
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.
He's getting closer.
They can't focus.
Can't reach their goal.
Can't follow their dream.
An older translation says,
Without vision, the people perish.
I've seen it with my own eyes.
Without vision,
people lose the vitality that makes them feel alive.
The foreword to Andy Stanley's book,
Making Vision Stick,
reads as follows.
Noted author and pastor Andy Stanley points out
that if followers don't get the vision,
it's because the leaders haven't delivered it.
He reveals the three reasons vision doesn't stick,
and then he delivers three ways to make vision stick,
to make you a leader worth following.
So we have to ask the question,
is this fair use of Proverbs 29.18?
And it is not.
Proverbs 29.18 in the English Standard Version of the Bible
and pretty much every other version of the Bible
reads more like this,
where there is no prophetic vision,
the people cast off restraint.
And the rest of the verse reads,
But blessed is he who keeps the law.
In fact, the last part of the King James Version,
and let me say to you
that the King James Version of the Bible
is a good translation of the Bible.
It gets much of it very, very right.
But it's interesting that none of these men
or anybody who references Proverbs 29.18 this way
preaches from the King James Version,
nor would suggest that you study from the King James Version.
But even the King James Version,
the rest of verse 18 says,
But he that keepeth the law happy is he.
And to rightly understand Proverbs 29.18 is to see
that the Hebrew word for vision,
more closely got at with the ESV translation,
prophetic vision,
means a word from God.
So without a word from God,
the people cast off restraint.
Without a word from God to give guidance to the people of God,
the people of God throw off restraint.
They don't know where to go.
They don't know what to do.
And we know that's what it means
because the rest of the verse says,
But blessed, happy is he who keeps the what?
The law, right?
That's been given by the word of God.
And so, what people need is the Scripture.
What people need is the prophetic vision.
People need to see Christ.
Christ needs to be proclaimed to them by the Bible.
That's why here we preach the Bible.
And we do that humbly.
And we do it by grace.
It is with great fear and trembling
that I even attempt to tell you what this book means.
But we do that.
We labor in that because we love you.
Because we want what is best for you.
We want your blessedness.
Hear me.
I don't want you to follow me.
Don't follow me.
Follow Christ.
I'm only any good as a leader
if I point you to Him.
And how do we do this?
We do it with the Bible.
Today's text is Luke's first account
of Paul's preaching.
It is not the first time that Paul has preached.
He's been preaching now for years.
But it is the first record of his preaching.
And it is Bible preaching.
I want you to see that this morning.
See the example in Paul the preacher.
He preached the Bible.
So again, our text is Acts 13.
Verses 13-43.
Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos
and came to Perga in Pamphylia.
And John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.
And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down.
After the reading from the law and the prophets,
the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying,
Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.
So Paul stood up and motioning with his hands said,
Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.
The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers
and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt.
And with uplifted arm, he led them out of it.
And for about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness.
And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,
he gave them their land as an inheritance.
All this took about 450 years.
And after that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
Then they asked for a king.
And God gave them Saul, the son of Kish,
a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years.
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king,
of whom he testified and said,
I have found in David, the son of Jesse,
a man after my heart who will do all my will.
Of this man's offspring,
God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.
Before his coming,
John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel.
And as John was finishing his course, he said,
What do you suppose that I am?
I am not he.
No, but behold, after me one is coming,
the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.
Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those among you who fear God,
to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers,
because they did not recognize him,
nor understand the utterances of the prophets,
which are read every Sabbath,
fulfilled them by condemning him.
And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death,
they asked Pilate to have him executed.
And when they had carried out all that was written of him,
they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
But God raised him from the dead.
And for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him
from Galilee to Jerusalem,
who were now his witnesses to the people.
And we bring you the good news
that what God promised to the fathers,
this he has fulfilled to us, their children,
by raising Jesus.
As also it is written in the second Psalm,
You are my son, today I have begotten you.
And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead,
no more to return to corruption,
he has spoken in this way,
I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.
Therefore, he says also in another Psalm,
You will not let your holy one see corruption.
For David, after he had served the purpose of God
in his own generation,
fell asleep and was laid with his fathers
and saw corruption.
But he whom God raised up did not see corruption.
Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers,
that through this man forgiveness of sins
is proclaimed to you.
And by him, everyone who believes is freed
from everything from which you could not be freed
by the law of Moses.
Beware, therefore,
lest what is said in the prophets should come about.
Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish,
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe,
even if one tells it to you.
As they went out,
the people begged that these things
might be told them the next Sabbath.
And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up,
many Jews and devout converts to Judaism
followed Paul and Bartimaeus,
who, as they spoke with them,
urged them to continue in the grace of God.
Beloved, this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it
in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
And so Paul, given the opportunity in the synagogue,
preaches Christ.
He preaches Jesus Christ.
And we're going to cover that in three sub-points.
Paul preaches Jesus Christ
as the culmination of human history,
as the fulfillment of prophecy,
and as the justifier of the sinner.
Now we see that Paul and his companions,
this is Barnabas and John Mark,
have now left the island of Cyprus.
And I lost control up here.
If you don't mind getting that next slide for me, Adam,
just so you can see.
I'm a visual learner,
so I like to see the map.
You recall at the beginning of verse 13,
they traveled from Antioch down here,
bottom right corner just above the speaker,
to Seleucia,
then down to Salamis.
They traveled all about the island of Cyprus
preaching the gospel of God.
They went to Paphos,
where they were able to speak the gospel
to the governor and he believed.
They've now left from there.
They've gone to Pamphylia.
You can see it up on the coast there.
To Perga.
And then on to Antioch,
not to be confused with Antioch of Syria,
but Antioch,
Pisidia,
a common name of cities in that day.
Gainesville, right?
This is Antioch.
Pisidia is where they are eventually heading.
So you can see that John Mark leaves them.
Luke does not tell us ever exactly why,
although we get some evidence later on
as there's a dispute between Barnabas and Paul
about whether or not John Mark should go with them.
If you recall this, Paul really doesn't want them to go
because he had left them.
And the assumption that's made is that he left
because the journey that they're about to take
is an extremely dangerous one.
So you're going to make this journey from Perga to Antioch,
which was about 100 miles,
had two really, really hard river crossings,
rivers that often flooded,
had lots of rapids in them.
They weren't taking boats across.
They also had to travel across the Taurus Mountains.
The path actually went up on the cliff sides,
very treacherous.
And this area was known for bandits
that lived in the area and would ransack people.
In fact, a bunch of the Roman conquerors
had a great deal of problem with these bandits in this area.
It was kind of a stronghold still,
even against Rome,
and they liked to ransack Roman travelers.
I don't think that they were honorable men at all,
but in my mind, I think of Robin Hood a little.
When I think of these men,
it was a dangerous, dangerous place for them to travel.
And so likely, that's why.
Likely, that's why John Mark turned around,
said, I'm not for the danger that's about to happen,
and went back to Jerusalem.
But Paul and Barnabas, they press on.
Paul's comments in 2 Corinthians 11,
the first part of 26,
are likely concerning this route.
He says,
On frequent journeys,
in danger from rivers,
danger from robbers,
he goes on in verse 26,
but likely, this crossing,
which he did a multitude of times,
is what he's referring to,
the rivers and the danger from the robbers.
They arrive in Antioch of Pisidia,
and on the Sabbath day,
they go into the synagogue,
and they sit down.
They go and join the worship in the synagogue
on the Sabbath day.
And we're going to see this as Paul's persistent habit.
When he goes to a new place,
to a new city,
the very first thing that he does
is he goes to the synagogue.
And we should ask the question,
why?
Why is it that he does this thing?
I think it's twofold, the reasoning.
Number one,
he started with the people
who had a knowledge
of the God he was talking about.
They had the Old Testament Scriptures.
They believed in God Creator.
They believed they were the people of God.
And it gave them a starting point
to continue to tell that Gospel story to them.
To see the fulfillment
of all of those things,
human history,
prophecy,
in Christ.
But also,
I think he loved his people.
He had a concern for Jews.
The Jews had been dispersed
all across this area.
There were Jews living
in all of these places
as well as people
who had converted to Judaism.
And he's concerned for them.
He wants to seek their good
in these places.
Romans 9, verses 1-3
is some evidence of this.
Paul writes,
I am speaking the truth in Christ.
I am not lying.
My conscience bears me witness
in the Holy Spirit
that I have great sorrow
and unceasing anguish
in my heart.
For I could wish
that I myself were accursed
and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my brothers,
my kinsmen,
according to the flesh.
He had this deep heart felt
to the degree
that he would prefer
to be cut off
from Christ
in order that they might
know Christ.
And so we're going to see this
as a habit of his.
He's going to go first
to the synagogue
and first speak
to the Jews
and those who have converted
to Judaism
before he speaks more broadly
in each community.
And as would have been common
in the synagogue,
there's a reading
from the Law and the Prophets.
And the Law and the Prophets
was a common phrase
used to speak
of the Scriptures
in that day.
This would have been
our Old Testament.
Jesus confirms this
as our Old Testament.
We have it as 49 books.
The Old Testament,
boy, if I get this wrong,
I'm going to feel horrible
this morning.
My brain's suddenly
freaking out on me.
They had it as fewer books
because some of the books
that we have divided up,
1 and 2 Samuel,
for example,
was the book of Samuel
for them.
So fewer books for them,
but still the same text
that we have today
as our Christian Old Testament.
They would have read
somewhere from this text,
the Law and the Prophets.
And we see that they asked
Paul and or Barnabas
to speak.
Now this isn't because
they were guests.
This isn't because
they were like random individuals.
We don't ask,
if I've never seen your face before,
I go,
hey, would you like to talk
this morning?
Likely they had gotten
to know them a bit.
There was a little bit
of conversation happening
beforehand.
And because Paul
was an understudy
of the well-known
rabbi Gamaliel,
they would have been
interested to hear
what he had to say.
He had studied underneath.
It's like he had been
to the best seminary
in the land.
So maybe if we had
a guest on a Sunday morning
that I knew
had a PhD
from Southern Seminary.
I'm like,
hey, you want to talk
this morning?
Because I'm good.
You want to get up here?
I'd prefer to hear
what you have to say.
So something like this happens
and they ask
if they'd like to do so
and Paul seizes
the opportunity.
Sees it as something
that's orchestrated by God
for the sake of the people,
his hearers,
and he seizes the opportunity.
And he gives to them
across our text
three exhortations.
And I'm kind of
setting the stage.
Three exhortations.
Verse 16,
he says,
listen.
Tell them to listen.
He stands up.
He motions with his hand.
This is why I speak
with my hands.
He motions with his hand,
men of Israel
and you who fear God.
So those who are Jewish
and those who have been
converted to Judaism,
proselytites,
listen.
The things I'm about to say
matter.
They are important.
And I love here
that Paul doesn't tell them
a poem
or share a joke
to get their attention.
He just says,
listen,
and launches into a sermon.
In fact,
interestingly,
this is the longest
recorded sermon
that Paul preaches,
which doesn't mean
that he didn't preach
more and longer,
but this is the longest one
that Luke records.
So he says,
listen,
and he gets into it.
He also exhorts them
to beware.
Verse 40,
beware,
therefore,
in light of everything
that I've said,
beware,
lest what is said
in the prophets
should come about.
We'll talk more about that
in just a bit.
But he tells them
to listen.
He tells them to beware.
And then implied,
verse 38 and 39,
he exhorts them to believe.
Let it be known to you,
therefore,
brothers,
that through this man
forgiveness of sins
is proclaimed to you,
and by him
everyone who believes
is freed
from everything
from which you could not
be freed
by the law of Moses.
So he exhorts them,
and I'm exhorting you
this morning
to listen
to the words of Paul,
to beware,
and to believe.
The backdoor main outline,
Jesus Christ
as the culmination
of human history.
And we see this
in verses 17
through 22.
And while I can't,
we don't have time
this morning
to walk through
these things line by line,
or to develop it,
oh, like,
this morning I wanted
to talk about covenants
so much.
We're not going to talk
about covenants at all.
There's just not enough time.
There's so much to be said
from these verses.
But we see
Paul preaching Christ
as the culmination
of human history,
the high point,
the climactic point
of human history
as he summarizes
the grace of God
toward his people
from Genesis chapter 12
through the book
of 1 Samuel
in six verses.
It's a sweeping summary
of Jewish history
in six verses.
And in the midst of that,
what Paul is doing
is he's highlighting
God's gracious work
toward his people.
God's gracious work
toward his people.
Note with me,
if you will,
the way in which
he tells the story.
Who is acting?
What is the main character?
Certainly we have Israel,
God's people,
in his summary.
But who's the main character?
It's God.
Verse 17,
the God of this people,
Israel,
chose,
God chose our fathers
and made the people great
during their stay
in the land of Egypt.
He did it.
He accomplished it
through human means.
They were doing things
to be prolific
and grow in numbers.
But he did it.
And with uplifted arm,
he led them out of it.
God delivered them
from Egypt.
And for 40 years,
he put up with them
in the wilderness
and all of their unbelief
and all of their wickedness.
He put up with them
graciously.
Verse 19,
after destroying
seven nations,
this is God.
God destroyed seven nations.
He used the army
to do so,
but it was God
that did it.
He gave them their land
as an inheritance.
All this took
450 years.
And after that,
again,
God gave them judges
until Samuel the prophet.
Judges entered the scene
from time to time
as it was necessary.
As the people of God
needed some special intervention,
he brought along the judges.
Samuel was the last one,
also a prophet.
The people of God
asked for a king.
They wanted to be
like other people.
They didn't want to be
in a theocracy any longer.
They wanted to be ruled.
I would suggest
as a judgment,
God gave them
exactly what they asked for.
He gave them Saul.
And when he had removed him,
verse 22,
God removed Saul.
He raised up another king.
And that is David.
So see how Paul's
walking through
and emphasizing
God's gracious work.
And he's leading his listeners
to the culmination,
this climactic point
of all of these events.
Right?
He's taking them to David
and he's getting their minds
to rest for a moment
on David
who was so revered.
He was the king.
This was the high point
in Jewish history
at the time.
It had never been better
for the Jews
than when David
was king.
But he's pressing on
beyond that
in the rest of our text.
God's gracious work
finds its high point
in the life,
death,
and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
It doesn't stop
with David.
Right?
It wasn't the best
it will ever be
in David.
It finds its high point
in the life,
death,
and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
All roads
lead to Golgotha
and they emanate
from it.
We'll see it that way.
All roads lead to Golgotha,
the life,
the death,
and the resurrection
of Jesus Christ
and they all emanate
back out from it.
We're part of that story today.
Praise the Lord
that human history
has meaning
and it has bearing
because of Christ.
Come Lord Jesus
before January.
Second,
we see Paul
preach Jesus Christ
as the fulfillment
of prophecy.
There's so much
in here.
There's a lot
to be said.
I'm going to say
a little about it.
Verses 23
through 37.
Paul points out
that the Jews
in Jerusalem
were used by God
to fulfill
the prophecy
of Scripture.
Common questions
that would have been asked
abroad
by adherents
to Judaism.
Those who were looking
to the Messiah,
they understood
that the Scripture
taught this coming
of a Messiah.
They most often
misunderstood it.
They thought
that the Messiah
was going to come
and deliver them
from Roman rule.
We know now
that that's not the case.
Jesus Christ came
and delivered us
from the rule
of the dominion
of darkness.
A much bigger thing
was happening
than just a deliverance
from Roman oppression.
So they misunderstood it
but they were looking
to this Messiah
and they would have wondered
how is it
if this Jesus
was the Messiah
how is it
that he was killed?
That doesn't make
any sense to us.
So he shows
that the way
in which he was killed
was a fulfillment
of the prophecy.
Verse 27
for those who live
in Jerusalem
and their rulers
because they did not
recognize him
nor understand
the utterances
of the prophets
which are read
every Sabbath.
So they didn't get it.
They didn't know
who Jesus was
and because of that
they fulfilled them
by condemning him.
The last part
of verse 27.
They fulfilled
the prophecy
concerning the Christ
by condemning him.
And though they found him
no guilt worthy of death
they asked Pilate
to have him executed.
And when they had carried out
this verse 29
when they had carried out
all that was written
of him
when they had carried it out
all that was written
of him
all the things
that were meant
to come to death
the very specific way
in which he was meant
to die
they took him down
from the tree
and they laid him
in a tomb.
Paul points out
that the Jews
in Jerusalem
were used by God
to fulfill
the prophecy
of scripture.
Paul tells them
then the good news
of a resurrected Christ.
This is how
the Messiah
could have been killed.
He's no longer dead.
He's not dead
anymore.
Verse 30
But
God
my favorite conjunction
love it when the scriptures say
but
God
God intervening
God working graciously
amongst his people
but God
raised him
from the dead.
Praise the Lord.
And for many days
he appeared to those
who had come up with him
from Galilee
to Jerusalem
the apostles
who were now
his witnesses
to the people.
We have this evidencing
he did in fact
raise from the dead.
He was with
the apostles
and they are his witnesses
to the people.
And we
bring you
the good news
the euangelion.
We now bring
the good news
Jesus Christ
the gospel
that what God
promised
to the fathers
has come to pass.
Paul references
in this section
of our text
three well known
and well respected
prophets.
He knows his audience.
He's speaking to a people
who knew
these men.
The Old Testament
David
David the king
also a prophet
writer of many of the Psalms
and Isaiah
the prophet
prophet of hope
who preached Christ
long before Christ
was on the scene.
He also references
another prophet
that they would have known
John the Baptist.
That's who he's talking about
when he talks about John
offering a baptism
of repentance.
I like
some people like to call him
John the Baptizer
because he wasn't the first Baptist.
He didn't start
the Southern Baptist denomination.
He was John who baptized.
And they would have known of him.
They would have heard of him.
People had been traveling
for miles
and miles
to come and be baptized
by John.
Likely some of the people
in this congregation
had been baptized
by John.
And so Paul references him.
He uses things
that John said
to say
I'm not the Christ.
The Christ is coming.
I'm not even worthy
to untie
his
sandals.
He shows
how all of these prophets
were pointing
to Jesus.
And he does so
in the fulfillment
of three prophetic promises
concerning the resurrection
of Christ.
This is the primary thing
he's driving us to.
He's pointing us to.
Verse 30 again.
But God
raised him
from the dead.
They killed him
in the fulfillment
of what was written
but God
raised him
from the dead
as it was
written.
It's essentially
what he's going on
to say.
He shows
how they're all
pointing to Christ
in the fulfillment
of three prophetic promises
concerning the resurrection
of Christ.
Verse 33.
God
raised up
Jesus.
He has fulfilled
to us
their children
by raising
Jesus.
As also it is written
in the second psalm
you are my son
today
I have
begotten you.
This is
Psalm chapter 2
verse 7.
I love that Clay read
I don't know if he knew
that that was
in this chapter
today or not
but it's wonderful
that he read it
either way.
Psalm chapter 2
verse 7.
You are my son
today
I have
begotten you.
God the Father
talking to God
the Son
predicts not only
Christ's incarnation
but also
his resurrection
which magnified
Jesus'
sonship.
He is the Son
forever.
God raised up
Jesus.
God raised up
Jesus with
finality.
Verse 34.
And as
for the fact
that he raised
him from the dead
no more
to return
to corruption
he has spoken
in this way.
This is an
interesting one.
For the fact
that he raised
him from the dead
no more to return
to corruption
he has spoken
in this way
I will give you
the holy
and sure blessings
of David.
How do those
two things
relate?
Isaiah 55.3
I will give you
the holy and sure
blessings
of David.
Paul is saying
that God
had said that
in regards
to the fact
that he raised
Jesus from the dead
no more to return
to corruption.
So he has been
raised from the dead
he won't go back
to being dead
he won't be corrupted
by that they mean
decayed
he won't be thrown
in as many
crucified people
were into a
mass pit
he was put in a
tomb
but he was raised
he didn't see
corruption
he was raised
from the dead
how do those
things connect?
And I believe
they connect
because a dead
Christ could not
have been the
assurance of
promises made
to David
a king to rule
forevermore
it wouldn't make
sense that it
would be that
and his life
now is the
assurance of
that promise
the fact that
Jesus is alive
today and he
will no longer
return to corruption
is the assurance
of the promises
that God gave
to David
that he would
in the lineage
of David
raise up
a king
who would rule
forevermore
over his people
third
God did not
allow Jesus
to see
decay
mention that
to some length
right
he was raised
from the dead
after three days
verse 35
and 37
or excuse me
through 37
therefore he says
in another psalm
you will not let
your holy one
see corruption
that's psalm
16
10
and then he
uses a little
logic for us
right
who is it that
God is talking
concerning
right
as David writes
this prophetic
psalm
you will not let
your holy one
see corruption
well it's Christ
because
verse 36
for David
after he served
the purpose of God
in his own generation
fell asleep
and was laid
with his fathers
and saw corruption
right
David decayed
he died
he decayed
he didn't live
forever
on earth
verse 37
but he whom
God raised up
did not
see corruption
so these are
the ways
in which
Paul drives
that Jesus
is the fulfillment
of these prophecies
he is in fact
the Christ
the one that you've
been waiting
for
why does all that matter
like what's
what's the point
what is it that
we gain from
Jesus being
the Christ
well thirdly
Paul preaches
Jesus Christ
as the justifier
of the sinner
verses 38
through 41
this is really
the main point
the crux
of what
he has to say
to us today
let it be known
to you therefore
for everything
that we've said
about Jesus
being the Christ
brothers
that through
this man
forgiveness
of sins
is proclaimed
to you
and by him
everyone who
believes
is freed
from everything
from which
you could not
be freed
by the law
of Bovisus
now in the ESV
freed
could be rendered
justified
I like that better
I like the word
justified
better
justified
should not be for you
a high churchy word
you need to understand
what it means
the biblical word
you should understand
what it means
in simplest of terms
to be justified
would be like
standing for a judge
guilty of something
and being dismissed
of that charge
being let go
you're no longer guilty
there's no guilt
found with you
at all
in a broader way
in a more biblical
way
if we believed in Christ
not only has the debt
of our sin
been cancelled
but we've also been
granted his righteousness
and both are necessary
for us to be saved
we have to not
be guilty
of transgressing
the law
but we also have to
have kept the law
perfectly
there's two sides there
which is why Jesus
came and lived
that's why he didn't
just come
die
he came and lived
a perfect life
he amassed righteousness
he never sinned
so that we could have
his sinlessness
it's often called
his act of obedience
right
it's very important
he died
bore the wrath of God
for our sin
took
God never just says
eh
I'm just going to
overlook sin
can't do that
as a just God
he can't do it
he has to punish sin
he punished our sin
in Christ
so that the record
could be cancelled
the two sides
that's what it means
to be justified
that's why I think
freed is kind of
a weak word
when you think
of all
of that
right
let it be known
to you therefore
brothers
that through this
man forgiveness
is proclaimed
to you
and by him
everyone who
believes
is justified
from everything
from which you
could not be
justified
by the law
of Moses
Paul's listeners
were very aware
of this
they knew the law
and they knew
their inability
to keep the law
Paul writes later
in Romans chapter 3
for by works of the law
no human being
will be justified
in God's sight
since through the law
comes knowledge
of sin
but now
the righteousness
of God
has been manifested
apart from the law
although the law
and the prophets
bear witness to it
the point we're making
right
point two
our need of
Christ
verse 22
Romans 3
the righteousness
of God
through faith
in Jesus Christ
for all who believes
for there is no distinction
Galatians 3
10
for all who rely
on works of the law
are under a curse
for it is written
right
as listeners would have
been aware of
Deuteronomy 27
26
cursed
be everyone
who does not abide
by all things
written in the book
of the law
and do them
never able to gain
favor with God
by our works
it's the beautiful thing
about the Christian religion
different from
every other
religion
and of course
I would suggest to you
it's the only true religion
that we now
having been justified
are obedient
as a gracious response
to what God has done
for us in Christ
right
we're obedient now
we keep the law
now because
we've been freed
from the penalty
of not being able
to keep the law
it's a gracious response
to that
not that we're driving
we're trying
to gain God's favor
right
by faith in Christ
we are justified
John Bunyan
familiar with
the old Puritan
John Bunyan
wrote a wonderful book
called
The Pilgrim's Progress
and you have to read it
if you're a believer
trade in your
purpose driven life boxers
for a copy
of The Pilgrim's Progress
and read this book
and in the book
it's about
a man named Christian
who's going on a journey
to the celestial city
it's an allegory
of the Christian life
and he has a
a co-patriot
with him
along the way
by the name
of Faithful
and there's a point
at which they meet
and Faithful is
recounting his story
of his journey
so far
he's encountering
some of the same
things that Christian
has encountered
and he's telling
his story
I love this
where he speaks
of encountering
Moses
so this is Faithful
speaking to Christian
about Moses
so soon as
the man
overtook me
Moses
it was but a word
and a blow
for down he knocked me
and laid me
for dead
but when I was a little
come to myself again
I asked him
wherefore
why
he served me
so
he said
because of my
secret inclining
to Adam
the first
because you're a human
born in sin
and with that
he struck me
another deadly blow
on the breast
and beat me
down backward
so I lay
at his foot
as dead
as before
so when I came
to myself again
I cried him
mercy
but he said
I know not
how to show
mercy
and with that
he knocked me
down again
so you see
what he's saying
the law of Moses
right
the purpose
that it served
was to convince
of our sinfulness
right
it doesn't know
how to show mercy
right
it's just law
like here's the standard
keep it
but we can keep it
we can keep it
we need another way
in Christ
and Bunyan
writes on
he had doubtless
made an end of me
but that one
came by
speaking of Christ
and bid him
forbear
stop
right
it's wonderful
so he tells them
right
believe
this is the gospel
of Jesus Christ
you can be justified
from your lawlessness
in a way
that the law of Moses
could never
have done
for you
and he warns them
he says
beware
therefore
lest what is said
in the prophets
should come about
and he references
Habakkuk
chapter 1
verse 5
it's a very
interesting
reference
to make
his point
Habakkuk 1
5
foretells
of the destruction
of Judah
by the Chaldeans
and the Chaldeans
if you care
about such a thing
are the southern
Babylonians
right
southern people
are always
the nastiest people
aren't they
he raises up
Habakkuk 1
5
says
a people
an evil people
as a judgment
against
wicked
Israel
now this happened
like
you could say
Habakkuk 1
5 was fulfilled
though
wasn't it
because in fact
the Chaldeans
did come
and they did
rout
through
Israel
and they did
bring destruction
to Judah
yes
but Paul
references it
here
for future
destruction
beware
lest the
final judgment
is what he's
using Habakkuk
1 5
to say
be true
of you
that you
don't believe
in this
Christ
and that
you're
utterly
destroyed
for being
disobedient
to God
only by
faith in
Christ
one be
justified
before God
Acts chapter 4
verse 12
Peter
another wonderful
sermon in the
book of Acts
preaching to the
council
the Sanhedrin
said in there
salvation
and no one
else
for there is
no other
name under
heaven given
among men
by which
we must be
saved
believe in
Christ
believe in
Christ
by faith in
Christ we are
set free
from the
condemnation
of the law
this date
November 13th
in the year
354
Augustine
of Hippo
was born
so it's
fitting that
we quote
him today
Augustine
once wrote
thus
a good
man
though a
slave
is free
but a
wicked
man
though a
king
is a
slave
for he
serves
not one
man alone
but what
is worse
as many
masters
as he
has
vices
be set
free
in
Christ
from the
condemnation
of the
law
by believing
in him
and then we
see in the
concluding two
verses that
Paul's preaching
bears fruit
as they went
out the people
begged that
these things
might be told
them the
next sabbath
I would
someday love
for somebody
to beg me
to preach
next Sunday
I'm kidding
I think you
guys know
I'm coming
back
and after
the meeting
of the
synagogue
broke up
many Jews
and devout
converts
these are
these proselytites
to Judaism
followed Paul
and Barnabas
who as they
spoke with
them urged
them to
continue in
the grace
of God
so we see
some evidence
of people
turning to
the truth
of God
to what
degree we
don't know
but clearly
Paul and
Barnabas
see the
grace of
God
working in
them
that they're
hearing the
truth
they're at
least hungry
to hear more
of the truth
as they
follow them
along
so in
closing I
want to
remind you
of Paul's
three exhortations
verse 16
particularly for
those who
aren't in
Christ this
morning
listen
listen to
the good
news
of Jesus
Christ
your judgment
is sure
and it is
coming
beware
lest what
is said
in the
prophets
should come
about
and believe
believe
through this
man
through
Christ
forgiveness
of sins
is
proclaimed
to you
everyone
who
believes
is justified
from
everything
that the
law of
Moses
could not
justify
us
from
and I
want to
add one
additional
exhortation
beyond our
text this
morning
and that
is that
you preach
like
Paul
preach
like
Paul
if you
are a
Christian
it has
been
granted
to you
the
privilege
of getting
to proclaim
the good
news
of Jesus
Christ
it does
not mean
necessarily
that you
will preach
like
this
on a
Sunday
morning
from a
stage
with a
lapel
mic
it doesn't
necessarily
mean that
but it
has been
given
to you
the task
of heralding
the coming
of Christ
speaking
the good
news
of Jesus
to people
do that
with the
Bible
preach
like
Paul
it's
what
people
desperately
need
let's
pray
together