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[0:00] 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.

[0:14] 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.

[0:31] 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.

[0:49] Most often quoted from the King James Version, where there is no vision, the people perish. You may be familiar with this.

[1:01] 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.

[1:14] said, My imagination influences my aspiration. In other words, your dreams determine your destiny.

[1:27] 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.

[1:41] 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.

[1:52] 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.

[2:05] 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.

[2:21] 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.

[2:38] 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.

[2:51] So we have to ask the question, is this fair use of Proverbs 29.18? And it is not.

[3:02] 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.

[3:17] 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.

[3:29] 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.

[3:43] 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.

[4:11] 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.

[4:25] 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?

[4:36] That's been given by the word of God. And so, what people need is the Scripture. What people need is the prophetic vision.

[4:52] People need to see Christ. Christ needs to be proclaimed to them by the Bible. That's why here we preach the Bible.

[5:02] 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.

[5:14] 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.

[5:25] 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.

[5:36] And how do we do this? We do it with the Bible. Today's text is Luke's first account of Paul's preaching.

[5:48] 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.

[6:00] 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.

[6:13] Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

[6:26] 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.

[6:45] 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.

[7:00] 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.

[7:14] 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.

[7:28] 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.

[7:40] 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.

[7:53] 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.

[8:07] 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.

[8:27] 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.

[8:39] 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.

[8:57] 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.

[9:13] 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.

[9:26] 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.

[9:44] 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.

[9:58] 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.

[10:16] 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.

[10:30] And so Paul, given the opportunity in the synagogue, preaches Christ. He preaches Jesus Christ.

[10:41] 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.

[10:57] 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.

[11:10] 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.

[11:22] 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.

[11:32] 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.

[11:49] Gainesville, right? This is Antioch. Pisidia is where they are eventually heading. So you can see that John Mark leaves them.

[12:02] 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.

[12:17] 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.

[12:37] 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.

[12:48] 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.

[12:59] 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.

[13:10] 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.

[13:27] But Paul and Barnabas, they press on. Paul's comments in 2 Corinthians 11, the first part of 26, are likely concerning this route.

[13:38] 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.

[13:55] 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.

[14:06] 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?

[14:17] 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.

[14:28] 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.

[14:42] 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.

[14:53] 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.

[15:10] 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.

[15:27] 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.

[15:40] 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.

[15:52] 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.

[16:02] 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.

[16:19] 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.

[16:31] 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.

[16:41] 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.

[16:52] 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.

[17:06] 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.

[17:19] 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.

[17:31] 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.

[17:46] 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.

[18:04] 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.

[18:17] 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.

[18:32] 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.

[18:44] 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.

[18:58] 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.

[19:13] 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.

[19:24] 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.

[19:49] 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.

[20:05] 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?

[20:17] 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.

[20:33] 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.

[20:45] 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.

[20:58] 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.

[21:10] 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.

[21:21] As the people of God needed some special intervention, he brought along the judges. Samuel was the last one, also a prophet.

[21:32] 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.

[21:44] He gave them Saul. And when he had removed him, verse 22, God removed Saul. He raised up another king. And that is David.

[21:56] 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.

[22:07] 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.

[22:21] 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.

[22:31] 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.

[22:42] It finds its high point in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All roads lead to Golgotha and they emanate from it.

[22:57] 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.

[23:08] Praise the Lord that human history has meaning and it has bearing because of Christ. Come Lord Jesus before January.

[23:23] 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.

[23:35] Verses 23 through 37. Paul points out that the Jews in Jerusalem were used by God to fulfill the prophecy of Scripture.

[23:49] 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.

[24:02] 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.

[24:15] 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?

[24:30] 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.

[24:48] 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.

[25:03] 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.

[25:26] 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.

[25:39] 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.

[26:04] 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.

[26:16] 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.

[26:36] 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.

[26:48] 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.

[27:02] 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.

[27:13] 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.

[27:25] They would have heard of him. People had been traveling for miles and miles and miles to come and be baptized by John. Likely some of the people in this congregation had been baptized by John.

[27:39] 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.

[27:51] 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.

[28:02] 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.

[28:17] 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.

[28:28] 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.

[28:46] 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.

[28:57] 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.

[29:14] He is the Son forever. God raised up Jesus. God raised up Jesus with finality. Verse 34.

[29:26] 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.

[29:44] 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.

[29:59] 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?

[30:18] 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

[31:32] 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

[32:53] 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

[34:05] 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

[35:09] 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 we're trying we're trying to gain God's favor right by faith in Christ we are justified

[36:19] 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

[37:20] 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 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

[38:52] 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

[39:56] 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

[40:56] 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

[42:02] 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 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

[43:14]  Bible preach like Paul it's what people desperately need let's pray together