Welcome to everyone. It's good to be back in the house of our God. You can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 118 for our call to worship. Psalm 118, specifically verses 19 to 29.

Psalm 118, beginning in verse 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter.

I will praise you, for you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord. O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, I will exalt you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Amen.

Well, please turn in your hymn books to Psalm 121a. Psalm 121a, as in alpha, we'll stand as we sing together. My help comes from the Lord above, who heaven and earth has made. He will not let your foot be moved, your keeper will not sleep. of Israel keep.

Adore my family, O Lord, your keeper, is your constant shade. The moon shall strike you not by night, nor sun by light of day. Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our great God and Holy Father, we thank you for the privilege to gather again in your house on your day with your people. We acknowledge that you are, in fact, the Most High God, even Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We stand amazed at your wisdom and your power and goodness revealed in creation and in providence. We stand amazed at that goodness revealed in the gospel of our salvation, specifically your loving kindness and your mercy and your grace.

We praise you for so great a salvation and for so great a Savior. And as we gather together tonight in a special way to proclaim the Lord's death till he comes, may our minds and our hearts be drawn out in love and adoration and worship to that one who gave himself for us. We ask that you would bless this time of worship that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit, that you would promote in us that fear and reverence of God Most High, and mingle it with great thanksgiving and joy. For God, as we reflect upon what we are, what we were prior to our conversion, and what we hope to be by God's grace in terms of that eternal state, we stand amazed at the doing and the dying and the rising of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank you for that message, we thank you for that Redeemer King, and we thank you that that gospel is being proclaimed from sea to sea. We pray that it would find its mark in the hearts of men and women and boys and girls We pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, many would come out of darkness into marvelous light, confessing faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray that for our gathering together tonight, may the saints of Christ be edified and sanctified and built up in their most holy faith. And for those dead in their trespasses and sins, we pray that today would be the day of salvation, to open their hearts and cause them to see sin before a holy God. and to see the remedy in Jesus Christ the Lord.

We ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sin and transgression. We ask that you would cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lamb. As we saw this morning, that foot washing where our Savior stooped to wash the feet of his disciples. Yet at the end of that week, He ultimately went to the cross in order to wash us from all of our sin and unrighteousness.

What a gracious and a glorious Savior King, and even now we confess that sin and pray for forgiveness through His blood, and we ask that You would cause us to respond with gratitude, with just a desire to worship and to praise and to glorify Your name. Father, we ask that you would bless this local church, that you would watch over each of the families here, each of the individuals, all of us collectively, help us to grow together in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. We pray that you would look with favor upon those with physical challenges and trials and hardships. We just commend our brothers and our sisters to you and to the word of your grace and pray that you would undertake on their behalf to encourage and strengthen them each and every day.

We pray for your blessing upon other churches in our community. We pray for the saints in Surrey, and in Armstrong, and in Dryden. We thank you, God, that we're not alone in this province, we're not alone in this country, or in this world. But Jesus Christ has promised and purposed to build his church, promising that the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it.

Wherever your people are gathered together, may you be there in their midst, and may it be the case that they would know the nearness of God as their good. Lord, bless the persecuted church. We know there is great suffering and great turmoil in many countries of the world. Our hearts go out to the situation in Myanmar.

It's a grief and a great discouragement to read of the recent happenings there. God, we pray for the little children. We pray that you would surround them, that you would continue to watch over them. Bless that orange grove.

Bless Peter with a great measure of wisdom and strength to be able to navigate and to be able to provide counsel and assistance to all the refugees and the children. And God, ultimately, we pray that there would be a ceasefire in that land. We pray for a ceasefire throughout the earth. We know there's many wars. many things going on that are an affront to the God of peace and glory.

We just pray that you would indeed cause there to be more gospel preaching, more people saved, more people calling upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And God, continue with us now. Bless and strengthen us and help us to sing with vigor of heart. Help us to engage in the preaching of the word with a desire to know Jesus Christ even more.

And may you in all things be glorified. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. We may turn again in your hymn books to number 381. 381.

We'll stand as we sing together. Wisdom and riches and strength evermore. Give ye to him who our battle hath won, whose are the kingdom, the crown, of the heavens with his name. Reign in the earth with his glory and fame. ♪ Echo his praises and tell of his power ♪ ♪ Ever ascending the song and the joy ♪ ♪ Ever descending the love from on high ♪ Glory and praise.

This is the King of the Kings that we praise. Take me the road, and the heart, and the bone. Sing me a song of a man that was slain. Dying in weakness, but rising Well,

Scripture Reading: Acts 13

you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Our meditation for the supper will focus on verses 38 to 43, but to set this discourse or sermon in its larger context, I'll pick up reading in verse 13. This is the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul and his colleague Barnabas.

It takes place in Acts 13.1 and concludes in Acts 14.28. The time frame is the years A.D. 47 and 48. They covered about 1,400 miles. They went to Cyprus and then the churches in southern Galatia.

And those churches are Pisidia Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. And so our focus this evening is going to be on Paul's preaching in the synagogue in Pisidia Antioch. So beginning in verse 13 of Acts 13. Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then 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 exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted army brought them out of it.

Now for a time of about 40 years, He put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. After that, He gave them judges for about 450 years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward, they asked for a king.

So 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 for them David as king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a savior, Jesus, after John had first preached, before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, who do you think I am?

I am not he, but behold, there comes one after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to lose. Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death.

Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers.

God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Therefore, he also says in another psalm, you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption.

But he whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.

So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming.

They opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, it was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles, for so the Lord has commanded us. I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth." And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord.

And as many as had been appointed to eternal life, believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Pre-Sermon Prayer

Our gracious God, we thank you for this wonderful sermon. We thank you for the emphasis upon our Lord Jesus. And we see that glorious gospel of free and sovereign grace. We see that life, death, resurrection.

We see that exhortation. to believe on him for forgiveness and for a righteousness that avails with God. Thank you for dealing with us in such mercy and with such grace. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for so blessed a time now that we can gather together to be encouraged at the remembrance of our Lord's death on our behalf.

We ask now that your spirit would guide us and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as I said, the Apostle Paul starts off in this missionary journey in the churches in southern Galatia. And here he comes to Pisidia Antioch. And basically you have the preaching of Paul in that synagogue from verses 16 to 41. I'll just give you an outline.

And as I said, our focus is going to be on verses 38 to 43. So first he gives a brief sketch of Israel's history. in verses 16 to 22. Peter does this as well and as well Stephen does this in Acts chapter 7. They basically give a biblical theology of God's dealings with the nation of Israel and how it was from that nation that the Lord Jesus Christ came.

So, sketch of Israel's history, verses 16-22, and then the arrival of Israel's Messiah in verses 23-25. And then Paul goes on to give an explanation of Israel's Messiah in verses 26-37. He deals with his crucifixion, verses 26-29, and the resurrection in verses 30-37. And now in this latter part of his sermon, he gives an exhortation to believe on Israel's Messiah.

And that's what we're going to pick up on in verses 38 to 41. So this sketch of Israel's history, how it yielded the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who comes from the tribe of Judah, who is descended from King David, who is that savior for Israel, even our Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul now exhorts the people in Pisidi and Antioch to believe on him. And, as Paul's custom was in his missionary journeys, he would go to synagogues. He would go to synagogues because there would be religiously-minded people.

There would be the Jews who had the Old Testament. Now, oftentimes they rejected that Old Testament because it testified concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Apostle Paul would make that known to them. But also at the time of the synagogue gatherings, God-fearing Gentiles would come.

That simply meant that there were Gentiles that were interested in Israel's God. They were interested in Yahweh. So they would come, and so the apostle would preach to them as well, and set forth the truth as it is in Jesus. So the latter part of this chapter, after we conclude what we see in terms of exposition, we'll see the response.

I just wanna quickly go through that, as we have time this evening. But it is an interesting situation, the way that we see the response on the part of the Jews and the Gentiles.

Exhortation to Believe on Israel's Messiah

But look at first the exhortation to believe on Israel's Messiah.

The Practical Nature of Apostolic Preaching

First, the practical nature of Paul's preaching. Look at verse 38a. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, He doesn't just give this sketch of Israel's history and just sort of leave it out there, but he brings it to bear upon his hearers. This is true of apostolic preaching.

Remember in Acts chapter 2, the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost preaches the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not just a Bible study for you to get a bit more information and then go home and do whatever it is you were going to do. No, the apostle Peter says, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Well, Paul does the same thing here.

He's not just trying to show that Jesus does in fact fulfill the Old Testament scriptures in terms of Messiah. Jesus does dot all the I's and cross all the T's and fulfill all the things that were written in Isaiah and in Moses and in Jeremiah and in Daniel. He does that to be sure, but he does that for a specific purpose. He wants you to believe.

He wants you to come to Jesus. He wants you to know that forgiveness of sins, and he wants you to know that righteousness that avails with God. So for the apostles, their preaching wasn't first and foremost, or rather only to impart information. It was that, but it was also to elicit from them a response, namely, come to Jesus.

There is hope in Him. There is life eternal to be had in Him. There is forgiveness in Him. And that's essentially what Paul does here in verse 38.

So he says, after summarizing Israel's history, how it gave us the Lord Jesus, verse 38, Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, And then he deals with the redemptive focus of his preaching in two heads. First, the blessing of forgiveness in verse 38, and then the doctrine of justification by faith alone in verse 39. So two things that are of absolute importance. Two things that are crucial, two things that everybody needs to know.

You can get by in this world as believer or non-believer without knowing all of the contours of what's gonna happen when Jesus comes again in glory. Know that Jesus is going to come again in glory, but to know all the particulars and the ins and outs, believer or non-believer, you're not gonna go to hell for not knowing that. But you will go to hell for not understanding that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. You are going to go to hell without the understanding of Jesus Christ as the righteousness of God.

Not just the perfection of God personified, but the righteousness of God given to sinners and received by faith alone. The prophet Jeremiah refers to Jesus as the Lord our righteousness. So when you go through the apostolic preaching in the book of Acts, they're not there, again, just to impart information. They are there to challenge unbelief.

They are there to challenge Jews that the Lord Jesus Christ does fulfill all the promises of God. They are yea and amen in Him. They are there to call God-fearing Greeks out of darkness into marvelous light by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostles have an emphasis, or a focus, or a desire, and it's redemption by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

So notice,

The Blessing of Forgiveness

he highlights the blessing of forgiveness. So verse 38, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sin. The man of whom the law and the prophets were concerned. In his sermon, that's verses 16 to 22.

The man who was the seed of David and the Savior of Israel. In his sermon, that was verse 23. The man who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation. Verses 24 and 25. the man who lived and died and was raised again, verses 26 to 37.

In other words, one's eternal destiny is completely and totally connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiveness comes through this man. There's not forgiveness in all these other religions. There's not forgiveness in every approach to God Most High.

There is one way. In Acts 4, verse 12, Peter says, And it's intriguing because he deals with the forgiveness of sins, that chief boon of the gospel, that chief boon of redemptive religion, and something that you see all throughout the book of Acts. I've already mentioned Acts chapter 2, you can turn there. Acts chapter 2, the Sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter again imparts knowledge, but then calls them to repentance.

And the specific promise that He holds out to them, according to 238, is repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Turn over to chapter 3 and verse 19. Chapter 3, verse 19. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Look at 531, him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Look at 1043, the apostle Peter preaching to the household of Cornelius. 1043, to him all the prophets witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. And then again in chapter 26, specifically at verse 18. Chapter 26 at verse 18.

When Paul before Agrippa, he's rehearsing the salvation that was wrought on him by our Lord. And then notice specifically in verses 17 and 18, he's rehearsing the Lord's words to him. He says, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Now brethren, as we go back to Pisidian Antioch, we see this isn't a one-off in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul.

In fact, when we read his letters, we see that emphasis over and over again. Man's problem isn't simply that he needs a bit more information. Man's problem isn't simply that he needs a few more digits in his bank account. Man's problem isn't simply his ethnicity or his socioeconomic status.

Man's problem is his estrangement from God Most High. Man's problem is that he shakes the fist at the Most High, and that God looks upon him with anger each and every day. So what do the apostles do? They proclaim the way of salvation.

They proclaim the glory of God's forgiveness of sins. They find themselves lock stock with the Old Testament prophets. The prophet Micah rehearses the great mercy of God Most High, taking our sins and casting them into the depths of the sea. This is one of those things that the church must be about, proclamation of forgiveness.

If we want to do genuine good to our generation, it's going to be at the level of proclaiming Christ in Him crucified. It's going to be at the level of telling sinners the way of salvation, the way of forgiveness. And when it comes to this forgiveness, again, it addresses the ultimate problem of mankind. The problem of total depravity, total inability.

The fact that we are justly liable to God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come. Look at Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter three, basically summarizing what Paul starts in Romans 1.18. He says, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

And then he indicts the Gentiles, and then he indicts the Jews. And then in chapter three, he summarizes and says, all of us, this is a universal problem across the board. The scope is absolute. Everybody is liable. to God's wrath, to God's curse, to God's judgment.

Notice in 319, now, we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. It is forgiveness that we need, and that's precisely where Paul continues in Romans 3, 21, all the way through Romans chapter four, well, into chapter five as well. The reality that because of what Christ has done in terms of his life of perfect obedience to the law, his death as a sacrifice and substitute on the cross, and his resurrection again the third day, all those who believe on him receive salvation.

They receive everlasting life. They receive the forgiveness of sins. That which is between us and a holy God has been done away with. Not that it's been sent to the cornfield, but the wrath of God has been fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's Paul's point in Romans 3, 25 and 26. God set forth his son as a propitiation by his blood to demonstrate God's righteousness, that he may be both the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So going back to Pisidian Antioch, no surprise that when the apostle sketches Israel's history, reveals Israel's Messiah, and exhorts belief on him, he says that there is forgiveness to be had in him. In other words, don't continue down this path of rebellion.

Don't continue down this path of transgression. Don't continue down this path of lack of conformity. Rather, come to the Savior, King, for the forgiveness of sins.

Justification by Faith Alone

Notice then, secondly, in verse 39. He goes on to give an explanation of this. We have forgiveness when we believe on Him. And then in verse 39, "...and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." So when we look at this forgiveness of sins, and then Paul uses this language of justification, and when we step back, as it were, from Pisidian Antioch, and we survey the apostles' writings elsewhere, we know and we are convinced that there's two things with reference to justification.

It's the forgiveness of sins, but it's also a righteousness that avails with God. God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So you see, God forgives our sin, but there's still a demand for righteousness. 1 Samuel 15, behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice. Hebrews chapter 10, the same principle is invoked and we see it there in the context of Christ's active obedience to the law.

So in terms of the passive obedience, Christ goes to the cross, takes our punishment so that we can be forgiven. But that active obedience is absolutely crucial as well so that we may gain a righteousness. It's imputed to us, it's received by faith alone. So notice what the apostle is doing here.

The apostle is underscoring the demand for perfection. and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Why was the law of Moses given? We'll get to that in a bit more detail in a moment, but suffice to say it was to promote, well in that context it was to promote other things, but law basically is to promote obedience so that we can have a righteousness, right? So the demand of God is a perfect righteousness.

Our confession encapsulates it this way. By which God bound him, Adam, and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it. So in other words, justification, the act of being justified in God's sight requires not just the best attempt that you and I have, It doesn't just require, you know, 80%, that's pretty good, you've done well. It's perpetual, it's perfect, it's exact, it's entire.

This is why Christ is so glorious, because it's not just his death on the cross, but it's his life of obedience to the Father's law. It's his never having a lustful thought. It's his never having a hateful thought. It's his never having stolen anything.

It's his never having engaged in any lawlessness whatsoever. He maintained always that holiness and that harmlessness and that undefiledness that the apostle celebrates in Hebrews 7.26. So notice what the apostle is telling us. God's demand is for perfection.

But as we know from the rest of scripture, man doesn't have the wherewithal to do that. Right? In Adam all die, 1 Corinthians 15, 22. As a result of that, what are we like practically?

What are we like ethically? Well, we're like a bunch of rebels. We're like a bunch of transgressors. We're like a bunch of people who lack conformity under the law of God.

We are sinners before a holy God. So you see on the one hand, he demands perfection. On the other hand, we're completely and thoroughly imperfect. But on the other hand, He provides this through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And by Him, Christ, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Brethren, if you understand what Paul is saying here in verse 39, you understand a bit of the tenor of the book of Galatians. Where's Paul, Pisidian Antioch? He's in the churches of southern Galatia.

Why does he write Galatians? Because he emphasized here in their synagogue that it's not through the law, but it's solely and alone through Jesus Christ. So then Judaizers come in after him, and they say, yeah, good emphasis, believe on Jesus, but you need to be circumcised. You need to follow our calendar.

That's why he writes Galatians 1. I stood in your synagogue, and I told you that righteousness and forgiveness were only to be had in Jesus. And now you're falling from the grace of God as an orientation, as a way of approach to the Most High, You're falling because some people have said you've got to get circumcised, you've got to keep the calendar. The apostle is putting forward the reality that justification is by faith alone.

God's grace through faith alone. So this provision of righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. Consider Romans 1, 16 and 17. The apostle says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

And then what does he say? For in it, the righteousness of God. That's not the perfection of his rightness. That's the righteousness that he demands from a sinner and the righteousness that he supplies to that sinner who believes the gospel.

So he says, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, that as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And then Philippians chapter 3. You remember that scene? The Apostle Paul is condemning again the Judaizers.

Those guys that have come into the churches of Christ and said, yeah, belief in Jesus is good, but you've got to get circumcised, you've got to follow the calendar, you've got to be a Jew also in addition to a believer in Jesus. So what does Paul say? He says, if there was anybody on the face of the earth that could have merited God's favor, it was me. Not me, Jim, but Paul.

Paul says, I was of the tribe of Israel, or the tribe of Benjamin. I was circumcised on the eighth day, concerning the laws of Pharisee. I had all my ducks in line. I had my religious resume in order.

You look at him in a job interview for rabbi of a particular synagogue, he's a shoe-in. Every jot and tittle was in place. Everything was on board. But what does he say?

He says, the things that at one time I valued, the things that at one time I saw as good, I will gladly give all this up for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. And then he caps off that brief section by underscoring what he underscores in Romans 1, 17. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. That righteousness that God demands and that righteousness that God supplies.

Philippians 3, 9. He says, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. That's what he's doing in Pisidi and Antioch in a synagogue peopled by Jews that had the Torah and that had this conception that if they were just obedient enough, then God would allow them access into His holy presence. Paul says no.

Notice how he says it. He doesn't say, well, you guys got your approach. We Christians, we've got our approach. Nope, that's not what he does.

Notice he highlights the instrumentality of faith once again. So verse 38, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And then verse 39, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things. Everyone who believes, not believes and does, not believes and works, not believes and fulfills Torah, but believes.

Justification is by faith alone. This was the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation, and for good reason. Romanism was saying, oh, it's faith plus faithfulness. It was collapsing the distinction.

It was folding sanctification into justification so that it's good to believe on Jesus, but you must fulfill what Rome says in order for your final acceptance. Well, that's Galatianism all over again. It's supplementing faith in Jesus with circumcision and calendars. And so the Reformers said, no, it's sola fide.

It's justification by faith alone. It's not faith plus. It's not faith mingled. It's not faith and, it is faith alone.

And they got that from the apostle. They got that from God. Genesis 15.6, Abraham what? Believed in God and kept Torah?

No, he believed in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Habakkuk 2.4, the just shall live by faith. This was always taught in the Old Testament. Romans 3.21, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

How does David respond to the forgiveness that he has gotten in Psalm 32? Well, I've worked my fingers to the bone and now God has rewarded me. Know how blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. David understood Reformed theology prior to it becoming called Reformed theology.

So Paul says in Romans 3, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. He says that all over the place. For the papers to say, well, it doesn't say justification by faith alone. Yeah, it does.

Absolutely, positively, 100%, most assuredly, it does. I don't know how you miss that here. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Apart from the works of the law means alone. justification by faith alone.

This is what our text says, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

The Necessity: Law Cannot Justify

That brings us then to the necessity. So we got the explanation, this demand for perfection, we can't bring it, Christ brings it, so belief in Him gains it by imputation, not gains by effort, but by imputation. We see the instrumentality, it is through faith, but then note the necessity, and this kind of jives with what we were talking about a bit on Wednesday night. There's a larger context for this sermon.

We dealt a bit with law and Old Covenant and the nature of the covenant made with Israel on Wednesday night, dealt with a few things that way. Basically, the argument was that the Old Covenant was a covenant of works. It wasn't designed to save them. In fact, Owen has that statement.

There's nothing inherent in the Old Covenant that would convey grace to a believer for their salvation. So Paul does that here, notice in verse 39, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things. Now notice, which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. You can't be justified by Torah observance.

You can't be justified. Why? Because you're a sinner. You're an atom, and the demand of God's law isn't your best shot.

He's not just giving out participation trophies. Well, yeah, you did your best, Johnny. Participation trophies have kind of altered the universe in a negative way. You should have to win to get a trophy.

So when it comes to participation trophies, we kind of move that or we map it on to salvation. Well, I've done my best. I haven't actually committed the act of adultery. I haven't killed anybody.

I've done my best. God will give me my participation trophy, won't he? No. There is no salvation via law.

Again, not that there's anything wrong with the law. In fact, the apostle in Romans 7 says, it's good. The commandment is holy. It's right.

The problem isn't the law, brethren. Guess where the problem lies? in our hearts. In fact, turn to the book of Hebrews, where there's a contrast between Old and New Covenant. He's not saying the New Covenant is a little bit better.

The New Covenant is superior. Look at Hebrews chapter 8, very specifically. Well, Hebrews 7, we see a covenant, a surety of a better covenant, 722. 8, 6 we see a better covenant founded on better promises. And then a specific contrast where he invokes the prophet Jeremiah to show something of what he wants to set forth.

So Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34, it's an announcement in the old covenant by an old covenant prophet about what the new covenant is going to look like. This is why we only baptize believers, because in that covenant they shall all know the Lord. They shall have the law written on their hearts. They will have the Spirit of God.

They will have those blessings that are essential features of the New Covenant. But look at how he introduces this in verse 7. In other words, if the old covenant would have brought redemptive benefit and glory to the old covenant people, there'd be no need for the new covenant. Now notice what he says in verse eight, because finding fault with, look at this, them.

It's the them that we have the problem with. This is why justification by law can never obtain because there's a them problem. Them don't keep the law. Them don't internalize the law.

Them don't do what God says. And as a result of them having transgressed, the stage was set for the arrival of the Messiah. This is one of the grand purposes of the Old Testament, was to function as a tutor, an old covenant, to function as a tutor, to keep the people together, to bring them to Messiah, to believe on Jesus alone for the forgiveness of sins.

Galatians and the Old Covenant's Purpose

Turn to the book of Galatians. If we're dealing in Pisidian Antioch, Galatians is very appropriate to consider. So the inability of justification through law keeping. We have Paul making that statement in Hebrews 8.

We have Paul saying in Romans 7, the problem isn't the law, it's you. But then notice in Galatians 3, 10 to 14. He's showing, again, contrast between old and new covenant. And by the way, when Paul contrasts, he's not saying old covenant bad.

Oh, it's terrible, it's horrible. No, the Old Covenant did exactly what God had purposed for the Old Covenant to do. It's not bad, it's not horrible, it's not deficient, it's not, you know, a bad arrangement. It did precisely what God intended for it to do.

And it produced or provided or gave us the Messiah King and His new covenant that is the fulfillment of everything prior. So notice in Galatians 3.10, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, curse it is everyone who does not continue in all things. There's that exact and entire and perpetual obedience, not grading on the curve, not the participation trophy, not eight out of 10 things, but But all things. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

So the declaration of Paul that those of the works of the law are under a curse. And he invokes Deuteronomy 27, 26. And then notice the declaration that the way of acceptance with God is through faith alone. Notice in verse 11, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.

You know what he's saying? Even in the Old Covenant, it wasn't a mingling of faith and works. It wasn't a mingling of grace and law. It was always grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

That's why the grand announcement in Habakkuk 2, 4, the just shall live by faith. Abraham believed God. David praises God for not imputing iniquity. It was always that way.

It was revealed or witnessed rather by the Law and the Prophets, Romans 3.21. So Paul's not saying brand new thing here. He's saying new covenant where these are essential features. They were present based on God's promise, even in that Old Covenant situation.

But when God announces, I'm gonna make a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah, not like the covenant I made with them, which they broke. There is a radical contrast and the betterment of the New Covenant. Things that were present in the Old Covenant, but were not essential features, are essential features in the New Covenant. You're forgiven, you know Yahweh, the law's written on your heart.

And so Paul is rehearsing this in the churches of Galatia because they hadn't listened to him, because they listen to these Judaizers now. And then notice in verse 12, yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. The declaration that the law is not of faith. This is Leviticus 18.5.

If you choose works, You've got to go it alone, and you've got to go it perfectly, exactly, and entirely. This is the glory of justification by faith. And so then dropping down to verses 19 to 25, was the law useless? No.

Paul summarizes. What purpose, then, does the law serve? Well, quoting, or at least alluding to Denalt in his book, the preservation of the Messianic line. I tried to explain this a bit on Wednesday night.

If you take a bunch of sinners and throw them out in the wilderness, what do you think they're going to do? Yep, they're gonna sin. And they're gonna sin with reckless abandonment. And they're gonna sin at the level of the seventh commandment.

They're gonna abandon their wives and they're gonna go after the pagan wives. In the time of Ezra, there was a stark admonition, a very strict admonition from Ezra to put away their pagan wives. Again, I think it had to do with the jeopardizing of the seed. Remember, the seed of the woman is going to crush the serpent.

If you jeopardize the seed of the woman, you're not going to get the head of the serpent crushed. So that's one of the purposes for this covenant. It had a civil function. It restrained the people.

It kept them in tow. Not perfectly, not always, but for the most part, it did its job. As well, it was typology of the Messiah and His kingdom. You see a blessed sort of expression of what God's rule over a people looks like.

And then the confinement. Notice in verse 22, the scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. So the confinement of all under sin in order to highlight that justification is by faith alone. It's not by a mingling of the two.

It's not by a mix mash. It's not by putting together a little bit of you and a little bit of Jesus and hopefully God's going to save us. No. Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved.

You'll be forgiven and you'll receive that righteousness that avails with God.

Christ: Whole Savior or No Savior

Listen to Fisher. He says, so that if you desire to be justified before God, you must either bring to Him a perfect righteousness of your own and wholly renounce Christ, or else you must bring the perfect righteousness of Christ and wholly renounce your own. What sounds like the better option there? I'd say the second, brethren, that's exactly what Paul is saying in Acts 13, 39.

Or else you must bring the perfect righteousness of Christ and wholly renounce your own. He says Christ Jesus will either be a whole Savior or no Savior. He will either save you alone or not save you at all. That is crucial to get.

And that is Paul's point in Pisidian Antioch And that's Paul's point when he responds to the Galatian churches that had succumbed to the Judaizers in the epistle to the Galatians. He wants to tell them circumcision and calendars does not make you acceptable to God Most High. It's Jesus Christ and faith in him alone. It's Jesus Christ and not the works of the law.

It's Jesus Christ without your so-called righteousness where you think you're gonna garner approval from God Almighty. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly, watch me, Savior, or I die. That's the heartbeat of the apostle's message.

Warning Against Despising the Gospel

And then on the heels of that, we see this warning given in the book of Acts. Notice, in verse 40, he says, Bach says, this is the only occurrence of this term, this despisers, in the New Testament. It refers to someone who despises or has contempt for something. Rejecting God's work in Christ puts one in this category.

To say, well, I hear what God says in the Gospel, but You know, I'm pretty good. I'm not as bad as my neighbor. I'm not as bad as some of you in the church. I'm going to go it alone.

That's the despiser that needs to take heed to the warning of the prophet Habakkuk and flee to the Savior and resist and reject that mindset where you would look away from the prophet mercy in Christ alone for salvation by grace. Paul, in Pisidian Antioch, calls upon sinners to believe and be saved.

The Response: Jews and Gentiles

Real quick, notice what happens after this. Verse 42, there's a bit of a variant between the New King James and the non-New King James. In the King James tradition, there's a variant reading from the modern text. And so there's a bit of a difference.

If you're using ESV, I apologize to you. Notice in verse 42, so when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles, note the word, begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Maybe people don't care about the word of God in our generation because they don't want self-help. They don't want do-goodery.

They want to hear the truth of acceptance with God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, when we preach the gospel, when we preach acceptance through Jesus to the God of absolute glory and majesty, maybe, just maybe then, people will actually be interested. You mean they're not interested in our self-help? They're not interested in our do-goodery?

They're not interested in our infighting? They're not interested in our squabbles? They're not interested in our messaging that isn't about Christ and crucified? Do you see that in verse 42?

The Gentiles begged the thought that there's forgiveness, the thought that there's acceptance with God, the thought that I can get there by faith in Jesus. Tell me more about this. Tell me more about the way of salvation. Tell me more about this Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gentiles begged. Have you ever seen, have you ever met, have you ever heard of anybody who's actually begged to hear the word of God? I haven't, and I've been doing this for a few years now. I'm not saying you schlubs, you're terrible.

I don't mean it that way. But to see people begging for the gospel, This is glorious. So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

So you've got this mixed match now of Jews and Gentiles that had responded favorably to Paul's message. But again, verse 42, they begged that they could hear the word of God. So does verse 44 surprise you? Does verse 44 cause you to go, wow, I can't believe it?

Notice, on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God. Why is that? Because you've got to hear this fellow. He's telling us about this holy God of Israel and how He accepts rebel sinners like us. through his son, the Lord Jesus.

The son that Paul preached in Acts 13 as he's sketching Israel's history, as he deals with the monarchy, as he deals with the time of the judges, as he brings it to bear on David, as he talks about this savior for Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. You really gotta come and hear what he has to say. Do you see what's happening, brethren? They're begging, they go home, and they're telling people over their lunch tables, yeah, we were in this synagogue on the Sabbath day in Pisidia in Antioch, and you wouldn't believe it, this fellow preached.

And he preached acceptance with God through the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's no surprise that verse 44 is in the Bible. The whole city gathered together, why? Because the apostles had the words of eternal life.

That's what man needs. That's what man wants. That's what the church is supposed to give him. That's what the church is supposed to proclaim.

The church is to preach justification by faith alone. And then, of course, on the heels of this, you've got the unbelieving Jews who try to stir up animosity and enmity against the apostles. such that the Apostle Paul and Barnabas say they invoke a promise associated with the Messiah himself right out of the prophet Isaiah 42 and 49. Behold, God has given us as a light unto the Gentiles. You resist and you reject Israel's Messiah, then we're going to go to the Gentiles.

How do you think those Jews responded then? Oh, they loved it. Oh, thank you very much. We love your plural.

They despised them and rejected them and hated them and held them in contempt. That's what you see all throughout the book of Acts. The first enemy against the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is unbelieving Israel. It's the leadership in Israel that's hunting Paul down.

It's the leadership in Israel that's giving Paul up to the Roman magistrate. The Roman magistrate would turn up the fire against the Christian church, but not at this point. They thought that the church was simply a subset of Judaism and pretty much was going to just leave them alone. It was the unbelieving Jews that kept hounding them and kept throwing them into the hands of these magistrates.

So you see, when the gospel of justification by faith alone is preached, if God is there, there's going to be great salvation in people begging to hear it and people flocking to have more. There'll always be that enmity, there'll always be that resistance, there'll always be that aroma of death unto death, and in this sense, or in this case, it was unbelieving Israel that rejected the Messiah of God sent to save His people from their sins.

Application

Well, believer, be encouraged. We have justification apart from the works of the law. We have justification by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, something that the law of Moses could never convey upon us because we couldn't obey it perfectly. And sinner, come to Him, believe on Him, and you'll receive it as well.

It's not like the handful of believers in here have spent the riches of God's grace. No, they're riches of God's grace. There is forgiveness with him that he may be feared. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our God and Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this sermon in the book of Acts. And God, we thank you for the blessedness of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that we have in him. We pray now that you would encourage us, that you would strengthen us, that you would confirm our faith and cause us all to grow in the grace and knowledge of our beloved Savior.

And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, you can turn back to Matthew chapter 26. As we transition now into the supper, Matthew chapter 26, just a few reminders in terms of the supper. Remember that the ordinance is for believers only.

That's not to be taken as an offense or as a dig. It's simply to confine ourselves to what scripture teaches. It's for the people of God. It's not a converting ordinance.

It doesn't have magical power in it. The bread remains the bread, the wine remains the wine, but they do symbolize and they should serve as emblems of our Lord's broken body and shed blood, things that the believer has a saving interest in. Unbelievers do not, so we would just ask that you refrain from taking. The ordinance or sacrament is for believers who are seeking by grace to deal with their sin.

Remember, the life of sanctification. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus says in John 13, we've been washed and we're clean, but our feet need that sort of ongoing sanctifying power of the Spirit and that blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see it in 1 Corinthians 11, you see the haves excluding the have-nots, causing problem and division at the table, so the apostle rebukes them for that.

And then as I said, the ordinance is in fact a means of grace, but the elements are not changed. They don't go from bread to body and wine to blood. Those were metaphorical statements. When Jesus says, this is my body, this is my blood, Take it the way he says, you know, I am the door, or I am the vine.

It's metaphor. It's something to illustrate. And so while we have a sacred use now for the bread and the wine, it's not changed. It's not transubstantiation.

It's not the Lutheran version of consubstantiation. And then ultimately the ordinance or sacrament points us to Jesus. We're supposed to think about Jesus. We do this in remembrance of him.

Certainly a bit of moment or a moment of reflection, God forgive me, cleanse me from my unrighteousness and my sin, but a time of rejoicing in the fact that Jesus Christ is the one in whom we have forgiveness. Well, if the brothers will come and pass out the bread, We will sing number 349 while they do so. After we get the bread and finish the song, I'll read the section in Matthew's gospel. We'll pray and then take the bread together.

So 349, please remain seated as we sing praises to our God. the cross our King. We bow our hearts before thee, thy gracious name we sing. And may that cross of salvation, that made with thy cross pain, our ♪ Life shall fade away ♪ ♪ Yet doth the world disdain thee ♪ ♪ Still passing by the cross ♪ ♪ Lord may our hearts retain thee ♪ ♪ All else we now but lost ♪ ♪ The glorious hymns are raising thee ♪ ♪ And hail thee to the tree ♪ ♪ Our God, our Lord is standing ♪ ♪ Yet they are all to thee ♪ ♪ The glorious hymns are raising thee ♪ ♪ No longer pass me by ♪ ♪ O Jesus reconfess me ♪ ♪ Thus I am found on high ♪ ♪ O grant to us remission ♪ ♪ By through thy death restore us ♪ I'm forever. Matthew 26, at verse 26, we're reading, and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, take eat, this is my bomb, so let us pray.

My gracious God and Father, we thank you very much for the provision of the Son of your Lord. We thank you that you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son, that whosoever be with him should not perish, but have everlasting life. We rejoice in your lovingkindness, in your mercy and in your grace, and pray that many more will come to a saving knowledge in our blessed Lord. We ask in his glorious name.

Amen. Stay together. If you remain seated, we'll sing 450. 4, 5, 0, just to remind you, the juice is in the outer ring. Wine is in the center section, but for the juice, it's in the outer ring.

So 4, 15, Jesus, mother of God. ♪ Let me to thy roots apply ♪ ♪ While the nearer waters flow ♪ ♪ While the tempest still is high ♪ ♪ I'll be of thy stay or mine ♪ ♪ Till the storm of blindness pass ♪ Into thy haven fly, O receive my soul at last. On your refuge have I come, raise my helpless soul on thee. ♪ Still support and comfort me ♪ ♪ All my trust on thee is made ♪ ♪ All my help from thee I bring ♪ ♪ Cover my defenseless head ♪ Raise the golden chair of faith. Till us it can be applied. Just and truly, it's our right. of truth and praise.

Your dearest grace with me is found, grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing ♪ Make a plea, strangle a whip in my heart ♪ ♪ Christ, to all eternity be praised ♪ Verse 27, Then he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Well, let us pray. Our gracious God, we know that the old covenant was ratified in blood. We know that the new covenant is as well.

We thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ, your son, that does cleanse us from all of our sin. And we pray now that you would be glorified as we drink this cup together as we, as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, proclaim his death until he comes. And we look forward to his coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. And our hearts desire and earnest plea is that all here all our children, all our young people would be found in him, not having a righteousness of their own, which is from the law, but that which is from you and received by faith alone.

And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll take together. When it says in verse 30, and when they had sung a hymn, they likely sang from the Psalter from the section called the Hallel Psalms 113 to 118.

So we're gonna try and continue that. So we'll sing 117C to close our worship this evening. 117C, we'll stand and we'll sing together. ♪ His Word, the law and the truth. ♪ Oh Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Amen.

Our blessed God, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your presence in our midst. We thank you for the saints, the fellowship of the saints. balm of Gilead is to our weary souls, to come in from out of the world, to fellowship with your people, to gather around your table, and to celebrate the glory of God most high. We pray that you would go with us now, watch over us, and keep us, and cause your face to shine upon us, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

We may be seated for a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 15:6
• Leviticus 18:5
• Deuteronomy 27:26
• 1 Samuel 15:22
• Psalms 2:7; 32:1-2; 113:1; 118:19-29
• Isaiah 42:6; 49:6
• Jeremiah 31:31-34
• Habakkuk 2:4
• Matthew 26:26-30
• John 13:10
• Acts 2:38; 3:19; 4:12; 5:31; 7:1; 10:43; 13:1-48; 14:28; 26:17-18
• Romans 1:16-17; 3:19-26; 3:28; 4:1; 5:1; 7:12
• 1 Corinthians 11:1; 15:22
• Galatians 3:10-25
• Philippians 3:1-9
• Hebrews 7:22; 7:26; 8:6-8; 10:1