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well good morning welcome to free grades Baptist Church and we have no announcements so let's let's begin by reading the scriptures we're going to start with our call to worship which is what Psalm 132 Psalm 132 I'd invite you to open your Bibles and turn to that Psalm 132 a song of a sense mm-hmm Lord remember David and all his afflictions how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob surely I will not go into the chamber of my house or go up to the comfort of my bed I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob behold we heard of it we heard of it in Ephrata we found it in the fields of the woods let us go into his Tabernacle let us worship at his footstool arise O Lord to your resting place you and the Ark of your strength let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let your Saints shout for joy for your servant David's sake do not turn away the face of your anointed the Lord has sworn in truth to David he will not turn from it I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body if your sons will keep my covenant and my testimony which I shall teach them their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore for the Lord has chosen Zion he has desired it for his dwelling place this is my resting place forever here I will dwell for I've desired it I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfy her poor with bread I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her Saints shall shout aloud for joy there I will make the Horn of David grow I will prepare in lamp for my anointed his enemies I will clothe with shame but upon himself his crown shall flourish amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to him number 89 B 89 B and we'll sing just the first five verses of 89 B Alaska elementary stand please [Music] [Music] and let's go to God in prayer let's break our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we come into your holy presence this morning through your son the Lord Jesus and father we are grateful for the fact that you are God as we sung up here that does not change you are the same yesterday today and forever and we praise You Father you've given to us your your Holy Word so that we might know you so that we might know of a Salvation that is that is that is brought to us through your son the Lord Jesus Christ one incarnate that one who was sent to this earth to take upon himself manhood that he would that he would so condescend to - to even dwell within within that within the womb of Mary and and and dwell within the within the body of a small child who had to learn things and how we praise you for that we have such a great God with such condescending love and we praise you Father that you that we praise you father we know that love that through your son the Lord Jesus that you've assembled us together here this day to bring praise and worship and adoration to the God of all gods the king of all kings the lord of all lords lord help us in this hour to be worshippers of you we pray that you would bend your holy year towards us this day and cause us Lord - to know the truth that we worship the true and living God and I father you will Tabernacle with us for Christ's sake as Christ has lifted up here in this pulpit in this place is today through the through our prayers and through this through the hymns that are sung the scriptures of the read the word that is preached we pray that all these things father you would be glorified and you'd be well satisfied - to be to be amongst us this day thank you for the for the for the Holy Spirit that also attends the Word of God and and the worship of God we pray Lord that spirit might might come and descend upon us this day and the father we might we might know that that God in a in a more personal way and in a deeper level we pray Lord that the God of all heaven would be our comfort this day as well assuring us of the salvation of the Czar's in Christ Jesus and Lord how we pray for any and all who may come in amongst us and know not thing of saving graces Day Lord be merciful to to them we pray we pray that a that the Lord you would cause the Word of God to fall upon upon soil that has been ploughed up that his right to receive that good seed and that file you do a that that miracle of all miracles that new birth in the Lord Jesus Christ father how we pray that you would be pleased to to to cause those who are who are in Christ to grow in and and be be fashioned and molded after the image of your son the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray Lord that in all these things you would be honored and that you would be glorified here in this place thank you you've given to us this place and we do pray Lord that you would be pleased too to bless us with unity bless us with a love the things that that you love and and a hatred for the things that you hate even in our society fathers we consider that the world around us we know there are many things that that certainly that you hate and so Lord how we pray that you bless bless those in in high places cause them Lord to to rule in such a manner that that they are able to to implement the things that you would love the things that that would be on to edification we pray Lord that there be an outline of the things that you hate and that the Lord even in these things you'd be gracious to us in the in the in the civil magistrate that you have placed over us we do pray for them father we pray that you would be you would give wisdom impart wisdom to them and Lord we can certainly we do need your mercy and so we would cry out and ask that you would be merciful tip on us as a nation and cause the Church of Christ they move forward father we pray the Church of Christ would preach the gospel the true and living God a right gospel a gospel it really is that that would bring you honor and bring you the the majesty that you deserve and pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless the word as it goes forth from this pulpit from the church in in Vernon from the church in in in Surrey as well pastor Pastor Mike there we pray Lord for each of these congregations that they would know that help and that aid that comes from you and we pray that as the Word of God has opened up there in those places that you'd be well pleased to bless that word and and add as many to as our to be saved in each of those places as well we thank you Lord that you that you are a God who is merciful and we desire that mercy too to even be shut upon us this day we prayed she would forgive us of all of our sins and cleanse us afresh in that pressure in that precious blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord we do sin against a holy God we do break your law and how we praise you that there is a fountain that is open for uncleanness and and we just we just desire that you would be pleased to forgive us for Christ's sake we know Lord that you we know you to be a kind got a good God a God who has invited us to confess our sins and acknowledge those things and follow you have promised to forgive us of all of our sins and all of our iniquities father we do pray for the persecuted Church this day we pray Lord that you would cause those who are being persecuted for Christ's sake - - to handle that persecution in such a way as to bring you glory we do pray Lord that you would cause them to - to put on the Lord Jesus Christ then and - to face that opposition to face that persecution as Christ did and and if you would give them help and give them aid and we pray that even in these things Lord you would be glorified and that in due time you would take that persecution away from them cause them Lord - - that's it - that to know what it means to be able to live in peace and where the civil government is is is not against them but rather allows them to meet in peace and that's certainly all we can pray for father is that in this lore world where we live in sin and with sinful man that so that we'd be left alone and we'd be allowed to enjoy that - that that peaceful coming together and and meeting together to bring worship and praise to you father we do pray that you would be pleased to bless those that we know in the Far East we know Lord there to be much persecution there and we hear of it on a regular basis we pray that you would just give give much grace to those who are in leadership positions and cause them to go forward - to - not that to not become discouraged but rather to remain faithful and to seek - to seek - - to see that good word that has been planted in the lives of young people and older people to see it continue on and grow in to grow into maturity we pray for the churches that are under the influence of leaders learnt there as well that Lord you bless those leaders and cause the Word of God that has been imparted to them to then be be disseminated out amongst the churches that that some meat in privates and secret and others more openly we pray lower than all these things you would be pleased to do bless and and and may there be great congregations that would be coming together and and may Father you be pleased to to to cover this earth with the knowledge of the Lord as the as the waters and the Seas cover this earth father may be of like of likeness we do just pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless any and all amongst us who are sick and unwell perhaps there are individuals and some who have who have faced that great great difficulties in the week pass we pray Lord that you would bless each and all and cause us Lord to be a people that are not a mourning people but rather one ones that rejoice in you acknowledge you in all of our ways father and we know that you are God who is merciful we know you to be a God who is kind and we pray that that kindness might be known by each one represented here in this congregation so Lord we do ask your blessing to be upon our time together bless the word of God as it said preached a little bit later we know Lord it not - it's not just a human act of preaching but it's a spiritual act and we know that we are dependent upon that spirit of the Living God to come and enliven and quicken that word to each one of us and so Lord we pray that you would be pleased - to give to us your ear give to us your spirit this day and we ask these things in Jesus precious name Amen please turn with me your hymn books to our second hymn which is him number 440 hymn number 440 in Alaska stand please [Music] please be seated and please turn with me in the New Testament to Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 as we continue through the New Testament certainly this this chapter what we read today of Cornelius and they the journey of towards his conversion is everything that him we just sang of speaks of and so with that in mind let's begin at Acts chapter 10 beginning verse 1 there was a certain man in says RIA called Cornelius a Centurion of what was called the Italian regimen develop man and one who feared God with all his household who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always about the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him Cornelius and when he observed him he was afraid and said what is it Lord so he said to him your prayers in your arms have come up for a memorial before God now send men to Joppa and send for Simon whose surname is Peter he is lodging with Simon a Tanner whose house is by the sea he will tell you what you must do and when the angel who spoke to him had departed Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually so when he'd explained all these things to them he sent them to Joppa the next day as they went on their journey and drew near the city Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour then he became very very hungry and wanted to eat but while they made ready excuse me but while they they made ready he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners descending to him and let down to the earth in it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth wild beasts creep things and birds of the air and a voice came to him rise Peter kill and eat but Peter said not so Lord for I have never eaten anything common or unclean and a voice spoke to him again the second time what God has cleansed you must not call common this was done three times and the object was taken up and up into heaven again now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant behold the man who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate and they called and asked whether Simon whose surname was Peter was lodging there while Peter thought about the vision the spirit said to him behold three men are seeking you arise therefore go down go down and go with them doubting nothing for I have sent them then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said yes I am he whom you seek for what reason have you come and they said Cornelius the Centurion a just man one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nations of the Jews has divinely instructed was divinely instructed by a Holy Angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you then he invited them in and lodged them on the next day Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him amen what spread our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father it's with it is with great condescension that we see that the gospel coming to this Centurion and how we praise You Father for the fact that that you will save all those whom you have deemed to save and not one will be lost that to whom has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ and Lord that brings us great comfort when we consider that that we many of us here are amongst that group who have been called who have been who have been who have been who have come to a knowledge of our sins and have come to a knowledge of the Savior that our great Savior the Lord Jesus and how we praise you that he is that the the champion of our of our salvation we pray that much we made of Christ this morning you in the preaching father you'd be pleased to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ and cause all those who would look upon this Christ this Savior to be their Savior this day we pray for any and all father who who who come in this morning not knowing anything of the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps or knowing much but not knowing him savingly Lord be gracious to us be gracious to them and we do pray that you would be merciful to to their souls and we pray that they would call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and and have salvation in your son the Lord Jesus Lord thank you you've instructed us through your word you get into us the book of the acts the Acts of the Apostles for for our benefit fathers we've seen how you've grown the church from a very small group of just that twelve men and and from that we we can we can trace our existence right - today 2019 and father you will continue to save you will continue to add to your church as many as are to be saved we rejoice these things father rejoice in each each and every one who has come to knowledge of the Savior and that so that they are part of that church Universal we pray Lord for the blood for your blessing to be upon the church and that father would be through the church through the preaching of the word that you'd be pleased to to grow that church and and cause it to be a glory to yourself and we pray these things in Jesus precious name Amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the lost him before the preaching and that would be to him number 271 271 and I'll ask you to stand again please [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 13 acts 13 we find ourselves in the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul Barnabas is with him John Mark is with them this is from chapter 13 verse 1 to 14 28 it was conducted in 80 47 and 48 it covered a span of about 1,400 miles they first go to Cyprus and here we see then they end up in the region of anti basilia and there they go into a temple or rather a synagogue to preach the word of truth so beginning in chapter 13 at verse 13 I'll read now when Paul and his party set sail from paphos they came to purga in Pamphylia and John departing with them from them returned to Jerusalem but when they departed from purga 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 said 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 hand 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 arm he 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 saw the son of Kish a man of the tribe of Benjamin for forty 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 loose 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 from Galilee to Jerusalem who are his witnesses to the people and we declared to you glad tidings that promise which was made to the father's God has fulfilled this for us their children in that he has raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second song 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 shore mercies of David therefore he also says in another song 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 father's 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 Ponyo behold you despisers marvel and perish for i work a work in your days a work which you will by no means believe the 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 turned 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 all stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief man 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 let us pray father we thank you for your written word we thank you for this record of the planting of the churches in the very first century we thank you for the apostolic ministry and the preaching of the Cross and God help us now as we consider this sermon in the city and Antioch I pray that we would know of our own sin and that we would know of that righteousness that comes through Christ our Lord how we praise you for him for his life of obedience to the Father his death as substitute and sacrifice on the cross and the fact that he was raised the third day all the things specified in this sermon by the Apostle and we know Lord God and under so so wonderfully that forgiveness comes not because we work for it or because we have earned it but because of grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone and we would pray that even now throughout there in this congregation and throughout this this world that as your gospel goes forth it would run swiftly and be glorified that more and more people would come to know that forgiveness of sins that comes freely by God and that Lord you would be glorified in the salvation of sinners and in the sanctification of your people so fill us now with your Holy Spirit please forgive us for our transgression wash us in that precious blood of Jesus and we pray in his most blessed name amen well as I said this is pacinian Antioch Paul and Barnabas left the church in Antioch that Antioch was in Syria they first go to Cyprus and now they go to this region this province called pasilla and there is a place called Antioch and there was a synagogue that they go in to preach the gospel so I want to look at two things this morning we're not going to get all the way through this sermon we're going to look first at the arrival at the city and Antioch in verses 13 to 15 and then secondly the preaching of Paul in the synagogue it pasilla in Antioch in verses 16 to 25 this morning and God willing we'll take up the rest of the sermon in the coming weeks but with reference to their arrival again notice they first go to Cyprus that's what we saw last week in verses 12 4 to 12 and now they leave from there and notice that Paul now has preeminence in the writing by Luke verse 13 tells us now when Paul and his party set sail from paphos now Barnabas had been a Christian longer Barnabas had been known by the church in Jerusalem longer Paul was relatively new in terms of his addition to the church though it had been about 14 or 15 years nevertheless he is the one upon whom the Spirit of God shines the light in the latter half of the book of Acts so here beginning in acts 13 to the very end the emphasis is upon Paul and these missionary journeys that he's engaged and then we notice that John Mark departs from that we've already met John Mark in Chapter 12 we see that he went with them on this missionary journey the tax doesn't specify why he departed the commentator's do and they tell us a lot of reasons why it may have been that John Mark left them but I don't want to do that because I don't want to sully his reputation later on he is restored but in this instance what he did was wrong the Apostle Paul tells us are told Barnabas in chapter 15 that he didn't want to take John mark on the second missionary journey because John Mark had departed from that but as I said in the epistles later on you see that there is a familiarity and a love between Paul and mark but in this instance he departs from them he no longer continues along with that and then they arrive at pacinian Antioch according to verses 14 and 15 they departed from purga they come came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down I would suggest that this demonstrates the wisdom of the Apostle Paul this is a place where there are persons gathered who have a religious interest what better place to go than to place like that to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified and resurrected so the Apostle makes this sort of his custom as he goes into various cities he goes first to the synagogues of the Jews and there it's not just the Jews that he is targeting but he's also calling Gentiles to faith and repentance remember that he is in the first place the apostle to the Gentiles so some have said well it's odd that he would go into these synagogues of the Jews well just because he's the apostle to the Gentiles doesn't mean he's going to neglect his own countrymen he wants Jews to come to saving faith as well but in the synagogue that was gathered together on that day there were both Jews and Gentiles as the tax demonstrates or evidences for us and then notice in verse 15 what happens and after the reading of the law and the prophets this was common practice in the synagogue in fact church worship is more patterned after synagogue worship than temple worship temple worship was about in cents it was about sacrifice it was about instruments it was about a lot of pomp and show but in the New Covenant worship is simple and worship in the church as I said is more patterned after a synagogue where persons would come together there would be leaders in the synagogue they would read passages of Scripture there would be a sermon or an exhortation from that there would be the chanting of some songs there would be the sorts of things that we try to engage in as the gathered church will hear we see in verse 15 that there was a reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue then sent to them saying men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on now this is curious why would they ask Barnabas and Paul if they had any word of exhortation and as well it's curious because of course Paul is going to have a word of exhortation you're asking a preacher if he wants to preach you're asking a man if he has anything he wants to address with reference to religion to a body of people gathered together to consider religion perhaps they knew who Paul was remember he was Saul of Tarsus he was a Pharisee of Pharisees he was one who started under the feet of Gamaliel he was an accomplished Pharisee and a religious leader in his own right prior to his conversion to Christ so perhaps they they saw him perhaps they had known Barnabas and so they say to them men do you have any word of exhortation that you would like to share with us yet it's just an open door in Providence for the apostle to stand in a place that is already in opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ now Paul's going to get to stand up in their midst using their own law and their own prophets showing how Christ is the inevitable end of those law and of that law and prophets and that is precisely what he does that brings us to the preaching of Paul in the synagogue and this is all of chapter 13 from chap verses 16 to 41 so I want to sketch it for you as we begin first he sketches Israel's history in verses 16 to 22 there's a particular reason why he does this he wants to show that their history or their prophetic scriptures inevitably lead to the Lord Jesus Christ so that's what he does in the first instance secondly he highlights the arrival of Israel's Messiah in verses 23 to 25 he then takes up the crucifixion of Israel's Messiah in verses 26 to 37 and then he ends on an exhortation to believe on Israel's Messiah in verses 38 to 41 and in the last section from 42 to 52 shows us the responses by Jew and Gentile to this sermon that he preaches in the synagogue in facility in Antioch so let's look first at this sketch of Israel's history this is not unique to the Apostle Paul Peter does something similar when he preaches in Acts chapter 3 we saw in great detail how Stephen does the same thing in Acts chapter 7 remember they charged Stephen with blasphemy against this holy place the temple and against the law of Moses so he appeals to their history to their scripture to show that it wasn't him that had departed but rather it was them and brethren that is Paul's point as he sketches their history he shows that the law and the prophets find their terminal a terminus in the Lord Jesus he is the focus he is the reason he is why Moses wrote he is why the prophets wrote it's not Paul that has missed this but rather it is them that has missed this and that's why he starts with a sketch of Israel's hearse history notice that he issues this call - here in verse 16 Paul stood up and motioning with his hand set men of Israel and you who fear God listen how we know there are two groups men of Israel and you who fear God Steve read in Acts chapter 10 verses 2 & 3 describes Cornelius as one who feared God you see that in this very sermon itself he makes this distinction between the men of Israel and those who fear God they were Gentile proselytes to Judaism they were those who were enamored with the God of Israel there were those who were curious about the God of Israel and therefore would attend to the synagogue on the to hear the lessons to hear the teaching in the preach a and so he appeals to both of these groups and then notice this sketch of the history he reviews both law and profits now some have suggested the various readings that most likely had occurred in the synagogue at this particular time and that Paul's message at least this sketch of Israel's history is consistent with what they heard read in other words Paul understood he knew the Old Testament he knew it very very well having been a Pharisee but now is a Christian he has the proper hermeneutic he knows how the law and the prophets point forward to the Lord Jesus and that's one of the things that he wants to emphasize in the hearing here and then notice in the first place with reference to this review of the law in verses 17 to 19 he highlights God's election of Israel he highlights God's election of Israel and I submit that everything he says in this brief section from verses 17 to 22 leads inevitably to Christ and God's election of Israel we have considered that several times in our studies in the book of Genesis God chose the fathers he chose Abraham Isaac and Jacob it wasn't because they were stellar individuals it wasn't because they were righteous individuals as we have seen in our study even having come to the God of Israel they still had their issues they still had their shortcomings they still had their sins but nevertheless God purpose that from these men the Messiah would come and the seed is absolutely crucial in terms of that promise made to Abraham Isaac and Jacob so the choice of the fathers refer to those patriarchs but then the choice of the father's include Israel as a whole there are several instances in the Old Testament in the law the first five books of Moses where God highlights his choice of Israel in fact he says in Deuteronomy 9 I didn't choose you because you were more numerous I didn't choose you because you were more righteous I didn't set my affection of my love on you because there was anything affectionate or lovely in you he does this in Ezekiel chapter 16 as well when he rehearses the history of that nation he says when I came to you you were like one well writhing around in their blood and I said to you live live it was God who conferred blessing on them not according to merit on their part but according to Grace on his part it is sovereign grace that brought Israel into this place of God's redemptive favor and the Apostle highlights that reality that God chose this people Israel then he highlights the fact that God delivered Israel notice in verse 17 be and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and with an uplifted arm he brought them out of it so you see what he's doing he's expounding the law he speaks concerning the choice of the patriarchs he speaks concerning the choice of Israel he speaks concerning the deliverance of Israel at that time of Exodus and he uses that that metaphor of the powerful arm of God Most High you see that in the book of Exodus in Exodus chapter 6 you see this reference that it wasn't again their ingenuity didn't launch some plan of attack they didn't figure out a way to Pharaoh in his armies and they would escape over the fence no it was God who delivered them it was God through the plagues it was God through the death of the firstborn it was God who vindicated his people and released them from that place and so Paul is sketching their history he's going to show how it terminates upon the Lord Jesus Christ he mentions thirdly God's forbearance God's patience God's nourishing of Israel notice in verse 18 it says now for a time of about forty years he put up with their ways in the wilderness you see the sketch of Israel's history he chose them they went into bondage he delivers them through his power and then he endures them for that forty years of wandering now the verb here there's a variant it could be he endured them which almost sounds negative but the rest of Scripture highlights that aspect Psalm 95 in Hebrews 3 tells us that God endured them in other words there the faith their lack of obedience their lack of doing what they were supposed to do provoked in God this forbearance or patience he didn't just cut them off but it might also be akin to the verb that's used in Deuteronomy chapter one in Deuteronomy chapter one in verse 31 God through the people of God through Moses says and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place likely that's the emphasis here in Paul's sermon God chose God delivered and God sustained God carried God nourished God was your protector God was your defender God was the one that kept this people together why did God keep them together because in the fullness of the time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law if the people had been breached if the people had been decimated if the people had been destroyed then humanly speaking it would have shipwrecked God's promise of salvation by Israel's Messiah even Jesus Christ the Lord so it's crucial that he not only elect them it's crucial that they don't die in captivity in Egypt and it's also crucial that he sustains them in the wilderness that he carries them the way that a man carries his son that language in Deuteronomy 131 is so beautiful I love the way it is specified there and I think at times it is a challenge to us to see God in that capacity there's tough things that happen in our lives and we conclude that that God has put us down and he is not taking care of us right now God is always taking care of us God is always sustaining us if we by grace have believed on Jesus Christ then God the Lord has said I will never leave you nor forsake you he's not here for a time and then gone it's not that in the midst of trial or in the midst of affliction or in the midst of hardship God has left us alone what's that declaration of David in Psalm 23 yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil why why does he say that because thou art with me see it's not the case that God brings him to the valley of the shadow of death and says okay you've got to go this on your own you just try to make it to the other side and once you're victorious and you get to the other side then I'll receive you unto myself no although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because God is with me his rod and his staff they comfort me we need to get that perspective as the people of God he doesn't abandon he doesn't forsake he doesn't leave us to ourselves but he is there with us in the midst of the fire and affliction and hardship and trial and difficulty and every bad thing we can possibly imagine the thought that God has has put us down for awhile and the thought that God is is not going to tend to us so the thought that God is it somehow finished with us for a time and and he'll come back to me when when everything is great is really an offense with reference to the Bible's doctrine of who God is see God is our God in the midst of the rain God is our God in the Sun God is our God in the midst of the misery of Sun snow God is our God in good times and in bad times he never ceases he never stops he never forsakes us he never turns his back on us and this is precisely Paul's point and how it leads in redemptive history to a consideration of Jesus Christ our Lord so God elected God delivered God bore with Israel and then notice in terms of the review of the law God's provision of the land in verse 19 remember the promise made to Abraham it was too full there was seed and there was land God was faithful in terms of his land promised God was faithful in terms of the provision of the land and that is precisely what Paul is saying in verse 19 and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan he destroyed their land to them by allotment what's his point if God was faithful in the provision of the land which Paul says he was then God is faithful in the provision of the seed which he was and it's the Lord Jesus who the Jews and masks were rejecting and were turning their backs on but this is Paul's point land promise fulfilled seed promise fulfilled as he moves to verse 23 we'll see it just a moment he says from this man's seed according to the promise God raised up for Israel a savior jesus land and seed were crucial in terms of Old Covenant promise the fact that God fulfills the 1 means the fact that he fulfills the other and those seven nations are specified in Deuteronomy 7 the Hittites and the girgashites and the amorite and the Canaanites and the perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites just as God promised so again just stepping back for a moment and seeing how the Apostle deals with this that's another thing we need to consider in times where it may seem as if God's withdrawn from us perhaps the confession study is still a bit in my head but we considered why there are challenges to assurance of grace and salvation and the confession specifies a few things but one of the things that says is when God withdraws for a time from us in other words we don't have that sort of felt Ness with reference to our relationship to Christ well brethren there are strategies and tactics and maneuvers that the people of God in the history of the people of God have utilized in such times in the first place we are never to duck doubt the goodness of God to his people you settle it when when a CAF opens up his heart in Psalm 73 to tell us but as for me my foot nearly slipped he starts with this axiom God is good to Israel that's axiomatic and you are never to forget that secondly it is very helpful to understand that when God enters into relationship with us he will never leave us he will never forsake us but then a third helpful thing in those seasons where it seems as if God has withdrawn his smile we remain faithful we keep going we recall and rehearse the acts of God in history again the Psalms of Ace after a great reference here because the heathen essentially were desecrating the very Temple of the Living God and God doesn't come and just smash their teeth and run them out of Dodge so what does the psalmist what is a SAFF do in those occasions he remembers the Exodus he remembers God's victory with his people in the history of the world and the same obtains for us here and now if you are going through a season where it seems as if God has withdrawn himself from you the very first thing you need to understand is that it's not true God doesn't withdraw God doesn't hide himself God may for a time and for some lessons that we need to learn do that or at least practically it feels that way but as well we need to remain faithful rehearsing recalling meditating upon musing on the very promises of God and the acts of deliverance that he's engaged in with reference to his people this is our responsibility it's not to lay down on the couch and hope that God will do snap as cosmic fingers and make everything great and now we can serve Him again I think at times as Christians we show ourselves to be Fairweather fans as long as my team wins I'm going to root for them but when they're not winning I'm not going to root for them believers can evidence something of that well I don't have the felt sense of God I don't have that conscious smile of God so I'm not going to read my Bible I'm not gonna pray I'm not gonna go to the church maybe God is trying to inculcate you in you more of a desire to do those things through a do use of those ordinary means it may be the occasion where God smile breaks through those dark clouds and you see it again in all of its fullness not us if God isn't blessing if God isn't conveying if God isn't smiling upon us 24/7 we conclude he's gone weedy God God quicker than anybody's business we conclude that well whatever I had it wasn't good because it didn't last brethren if God has entered into saving you it is to the uttermost it is always he is not going to let you go it is a blessed reality of biblical religion that when God begins a work in us he will complete it unto the day of Christ but you know what is never guaranteed you know what's never guaranteed in Scripture is that as saved men and women everyday will be your best day ever that's search finding you know the onus is on the health wealth prosperity idiots to pony up and show where the Bible actually does promise that every day is going to be great there's just certainly some days that aren't great there's just certainly some days that are hard there's days that are difficult there are trials there are afflictions there is disease there is death there is emptiness there is pain there's all that stuff why because we live in a sin cursed world and when God saves us he doesn't put a you know a shield around us wherever you go it's only ever gonna smell like roses wherever you go people are only going to give you money wherever you go you're gonna skip wherever you go you're gonna whistle wherever you go it's gonna be like the best day ever that is absolutely foreign and contrary to what scripture tells us the best men and women in the history of the faith are evidenced in Hebrews chapter 11 what did some of them get Isaiah the prophet got sawn into brethren it wasn't his best day ever the day he got sawn into my point is is that God is faithful my point is is that God is good and he doesn't renege on his goodness when it seems to us that he's hidden his smiling face he's there we need to continue to believe that and we need to have that rock-solid confidence that even in the midst of trial and affliction and hardship and suffering and calamity God the Lord is our strength God the Lord is our portion God the Lord is our our lot what's he say to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 I am your shield your exceedingly great reward is that a beautiful description of who God is and what God is to us you think from then on in the account of everything there'd be no problems in that brother's life he would just you know soar through lie you know the clatter the wings of eagles soaring above the clouds no he still had issues he still had problems he still had difficulties we've met now with the Apostle Paul a man who covered 10,000 miles in terms of his service to the Lord Jesus Christ I don't mention that as if it's somehow meritorious I mention it as is as it ought to be observed this brother went to went for everything to preach Christ and him crucified through out the net that the then-known world brethren if he does all that he must be favored by God and one upon whom God smile rests yeah but he still had issues he still had problems he still got beat you see it on this first missionary journey he's stoned and left for dead because they thought he was gone that's the service of God it's not always marked by and punctuated by Bluebirds attending us I guess what I'm trying to suggest is that Christianity is not a Disney movie it's not a Disney experience it's not simply a life that is filled with unicorns and fairies and wonderful things no there's hardships and there's heart aches and there's affliction and there's at times feelings of desperation and destitution but that doesn't change God I the Lord do not change he says through the Prophet Malachi so Paul preaching from their law highlights in verse 19 God is faithful in terms of the land promise so then when we get to verse 23 he and it indicates that God is faithful with reference to the seed promise but before he gets there he not only has reviewed the law he refused the prophets in verses 17 to 22 you see what they read they read law and prophets in the synagogue in pacinian Antioch according to verse 15 they then asked Paul and Barnabas man do you have a word of exhortation to speak to the people Paul motions to them to be silent and to pay attention why because we're dealing with the most important thing ever namely your forgiveness your justification your salvation that's why Paul motions his hand and he tells them to listen to paying attention if Paul was teaching calculus if Paul was teaching English if Paul was teaching history there probably wouldn't be that grave or that serious of a concern on his part but he's preaching the Messiah he's preaching that the Christ of heaven earth he's preaching the one in whom alone there is forgiveness so he moves from the law to the prophets and in verses 17 to 22 he highlights the judges and the kings not all of them again he's linking their history sketching their history to show how it inevitably led to this one Jesus of Nazareth so in verse 17 the god I'm sorry verse 20 please forgive me I jumped in my head I looked at the different texture verse 20 and after that he gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years until Samuel the Prophet the judges given to Israel if I want to ask you what is the book of Judges about I'd love to hear the various answers I think sometimes people would say well the book of Judges is about a HUD that left-handed knife maker that killed Eglon remember Eglon he was quite a rotund man than when he hood plunged that knife in the the flesh of Eglon sort of encompassed at all so he got you know II thought he's a he's a strong man Georgie he puts that knife and that man's got that man says he says I I have a message from God for you oh yeah he sure did it just happened to come with a point and it was going to go into his belly that's the reality and we think of Gideon what do we think about Gideon Gideon was a mighty maddy man managed to put down Midianites with a with a small army right you think of samson you think about jeff thought you think about these various judges in israel you know what the book of Judges is about it's about the salvation of God it's all about salvation each of those judges typifies for us the Lord Jesus Christ judges 216 specifies the very reason why God gave judges the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them that's the point of the book of Judges Yahweh is salvation it's all about God liberating delivering freeing vindicating his oppressed people when they are under the hands of godless men that's the message of the book of judges and the judges are osteo a HUD sham barbaric Gideon Toula Jer jephta Epson Ilan abdun and Samson Samuel himself also functioned as a judge as First Samuel tells us but as Paul highlights here he's a prophet now if you were to ask the question you said he expounded the law in verses 17 to 19 and now he's expounding the prophets in verses 20 to 22 judges and Joshua and 1st and 2nd Samuel are called prophets those are the former prophets and the latter prophets are Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and then the twelve minor prophets so that body of literature in the Old Covenant can tour the Hebrew Canon is referred to as the prophets we call them historical books now they certainly relate history they certainly tell us about these particular men but it's theological history it's prophetic literature it's teaching us something about who God is who his people are and how he vindicates them and how he delivers them when they're under foreign oppression how in the midst of Philistine oppression he raises up a Samson and he sends that Samson upon his way to do great damage to the Philistines with that jawbone of an ass where he takes out a thousand of them in one exchange that is the deliverance wrought by God and each of those judges typifies pictures for us demonstrates the great redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ but he doesn't stop at the judges he then highlights the monarchy or the kings of Israel in verses 21 and 22 he says and afterward they asked for a king so God gave them saw the son of Kish a man of the tribe of Benjamin for forty years I think you all remember that scene or incident first samuel chapter 8 what are the people of Israel say give us a king so that we can be like the other nations Samuel gets upset about this and he cries out to the Lord and the Lord says to him Samuel they're not resisting you they're resisting me now it was always the case that there would be a monarchy in Israel Deuteronomy 17 specifies particular duties and responsibilities for the kings of Israel the first one being you know what the King does when he gets in a point that are anointed he has a big party he you know gives us money to his constituency he he pays off the the donor class now the first thing the king of Israel was supposed to do was to take out his ink pen take out several sheets of blank paper and write for himself the law of Yahweh imagine if they actually had done that humanly speaking if every king of Israel every king of Judah had actually done what was specified in Deuteronomy 17 they actually toed the line obeyed God wrote out that law and meditated upon it day and night it would have been a whole better sort of situation obviously than what happened in terms of the history of Israel and Judah but all that notwithstanding the problem in 1st Samuel 8 was that we can be like the nations around us it wasn't monarchy it wasn't kingship that God necessarily condemned it was this desire to look like the heathen around them and so of course Samuel tells them this is the kind of king it's going to be you think you've got problems now wait until this King comes along brethren it was pretty prophetic for the rest of human government subsequent to that there's going to be high taxation he's going to recruit the best talent from your own families for his own you know Baker's and for his own life and his own benefit his own comfort Samuel tells them it's not going to be a great sort of a situation but nevertheless they want this king till we enter into 1st Samuel Chapter 9 and who is it it's all it's this man Saul that it's chosen by God to be the King in Israel at that particular time but it doesn't stop there notice in verse 22 and this is again the link where he's going David why David because from David he goes to David's son that's the logic of his sketch of Israel's history at this point God chose God delivered God nourished not vindicated God blessed God gave the land God is giving or has given the seed and he's given these judges he's given these kings and now he comes specifically to David and notice how he treats David in verse 22 and when he had removed him that saw why did he remove Saul again I'd love to really ask this question because we went through first samuel in our Bible studies on Wednesday night and I'd love to see if everybody remembered that information Saul had his issues didn't he I mean he ran for forty years so he did some things right now if you compare the text and First Samuel and you compare other reference just say wait a minute doesn't say forty years most dollars acceptors or suspect that it speaks concerning the reign of saw consistent with Samuel that collectively there was a forty year period there people get more involved in the numbers here I've done a little bit of search on that didn't seem like it's absolutely crucial to the presentation of the material that if you have questions in terms of the numbering system afterward then may I just suggest read John Gill because he'll sort you all out on any questions of numbers and anywhere in the Bible because he seem to have an affinity for that if he hadn't been a biblical scholar he sure should have been a math teacher because he he knows numbers he gets in it uh actually there's not much he doesn't know when you read when you read his commentaries he was a very skilled and gifted exegete but Saul in 1st Samuel chapter 13 violated the regulan principle of worship Samuel said I want you to wait here for me when I return then we'll do what we're gonna do well Samuel was a bit late getting back so what it's all do Saul sacrifices to Yahweh now Samuel doesn't come back and say you know good job good job Saul you you were an in an innovator you were creative no it's in that context where God through Samuel says I'm gonna tear the kingdom away from you that was a fundamental misstep in the life of Saul then there was the episode in First Samuel chapter 15 God says to set us all go in and utterly destroy the Amalekites and kill a gag the king of the Amalekites so Saul says okay sign me up that's what I'm gonna do so he goes on this incursion he spares a gang and he spares all the livestock but of course he repeat reports dutifully to Samuel I've done everything the LORD commanded so Samuel says well why am i hearing these oxen and why am i hearing these sheep if you had done what you were supposed to I would not hear this and God through Samuel brings the heat to bear upon Saul it's in that context in 1st Samuel chapter 15 where disobediences as the sin of witchcraft according to God's holy word and so in that instance he's told once again that the kingdom is being removed from him and then in 1st Samuel chapter 28 the incident with the witch which it Endor God was silent with reference to saw God didn't communicate to saw because Saul had already sort of forfeited his place as king and he had forfeited his place as the the rightful head of the kingdom and so when there is this silence from God and they've got to go to battle against Philistines what does Saul do he consults a witch at Endor to get divine guidance to go into battle what shouldn't surprise us that he and his sons died on Mount Gilboa shouldn't surprise us one bit because he's acted completely contrary to the God of heaven and earth and so that's the point in his statement concerning David verse 22 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 so the reign of David is consistent with the plan of God in the raising up of Jesus now the backdrop to verse 22 is second samuel chapter 7 it is the Davidic covenant the backdrop to 2nd samuel 7 or more passage that that shines further light is Psalm 132 that our brother read at the outside of worship and then Psalm 89 we sang in the midst of worship all of these things rehearse God's promise to David that from David's line from David's heed God would raise up a king and that King would sit at the right hand of God most high and that King would reign and rule over all things forever and ever world without end amen in other words it was a promise to David in 2nd Samuel 7 concerning Messiah David wants to build a house for God and God sends the prophet Nathan and says I'm gonna build a house for you David and by that he doesn't mean a nice place with paneling and with a lot of storage space he means a dynasty a dynasty of kings will succeed David terminating in that one who comes in the fullness of the time this is a conflation of texts what we find in terms of the quotation I found David the son of Jesse a man after my own art that is a combination of both first Samuel 1314 and Psalm 89 21st Samuel 13 14 says the Lord is sought for himself a man after his own heart again that was on the occasion of that breach of the regulative principle of worship Saul undertakes to worship perhaps thinking he's going to be congratulated by Samuel and Samuel says absolutely positively not solve their seals not only his own doom but he seals Jonathan because there would have been a dynasty from Saul and Jonathan would have been the heir to the throne ultimately but because of a lousy father Jonathan suffers as a result of that and then notice in Psalm 89 specifically in verse 20 I have found my servant David with my holy oil I have anointed him so just to slow it down for a moment and say this he sketches Israel history Israel's history to bring him to this point Bach says it this way this speech develops Israel's history in detail phase by phase until it reaches David it then leaps over 1,000 years of Israel's history to go directly to the promise of the son of David who will deliver the nation this is Paul's point in the sketch how does Paul in his wisdom address these Jews who have more than likely heard of this Jesus of Nazareth that have more than likely rejected this Jesus of Nazareth does he just pop in and say look I'm gonna tell you all about Jesus of Nazareth he does that but he shows how their law and their prophets leads him there I think this is going on in the book of Acts I've said it on a few occasions there's not only a transfer of leadership we're moving from these rulers of the synagogue and these chief priests associated with the temple to the apostles they're the leaders of God's kingdom on earth so that's obvious in the book of Acts but also hermeneutics now before you say I don't want to hear another big word tough you gotta hear a big word hermeneutics simply means how do we interpret things hermeneutics is a system of theory of the way that we interpret it's not confined to the Bible though it's called sacred hermeneutics when we apply it to the Bible but Shakespeare has a hermeneutic a way that you approach the interpretation of that literature there's a theory there's rules there's things or principles by which you maintain in order to successfully exegete a passage that you're looking at well with reference to hermeneutics the Jews are absolutely positively wrong if you're hermeneutic leads away from Jesus Christ then it's wrong but if you're hermeneutic leads to Jesus Christ then you're right now you could be wrong in a whole host of other things but the point is this why the law and the prophets to point Israel to Jesus why the law and the prophets to demonstrate God's faithfulness to Israel until the time of the coming of Jesus and that faithfulness will even be certain and reinforced and reinvigorated so the Apostle highlights with this connection to David the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ notice the arrival of Messiah of Israel's Messiah in verses 23 to 25 he speaks of him as the seed of David verse 23 from this man's seed according to the promise God raised up for Israel a saviour Jesus and just the wisdom of Paul here first thing he doesn't say is I'm gonna tell you all about Jesus but he does he is telling them all about Jesus from their law from their prophets and again some have taken pains to try and figure out what the reading of the law and the prophets would have been on that particular day suffice it to say they read from the law and the prophets whatever Paul is speaking in in terms of law and prophets it's consistent with what they've heard and now he wants to make sure they understand that the purpose behind those readings the purpose behind those writings are to testify concerning Israel's Messiah namely this Savior Jesus and that's the point the purpose of the Apostle in the synagogue is to set forth Christ as the one in whom all the promises of God are yay and amen he is laying down the gauntlet in terms of interpretation of Scripture he is saying to any and all that if you miss Jesus in the law and the prophets you have not read the law and the prophets the way they were supposed to be read you've heard the old adage I think it was Luther that said every text in the Bible leads us to Jesus now some have abused that and have seen things that are a bit odd and weird but the overarching effect of that statement is accurate the law and the prophets testify concerning Jesus what's Jesus say in Matthew chapter 5 remember the buzz about Jesus is going about people are hearing now that he's a teacher people are probably wondering especially religious leaders what what does he think about the Old Testament what does he do with reference to the Old Testament what's he saying Matthew 5:17 do not think that I came to abolish the law on the prophets I think come to abolish I came rather to fulfill them so the law and the prophets study properly by the power of the Holy Spirit will always produce an understanding of who Jesus is so he highlights the savior of Israel and then he points to the testimony of John the Baptist now Peter does the same thing in his preaching and this bait may be a means by which Luke is telling us that Paul is no different from Peter see Paul's conversion was a bit different from Peter Paul's being brought to the Savior was different in terms of pomp and show and ceremony and power and glory and demonstration all of that but his message was the same Peter makes the David Jesus connection in Acts chapter 2 Peter sketches the history of Israel Acts chapter 3 to show how it comes to fruition in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ this is essentially Luke with Paul saying that what Paul is doing on these missionary journeys is no different he has the same spirit he has the same understanding he preaches the same Christ and therefore every single one of us ought to give him heed ought to pay attention ought to listen to him but he points to John the Baptist again Peter does this in acts 10 at verse 37 but he highlights and and this is again part of the sketch of Israel's history if I were to ask you what was John's position I'd hope you say it was an Old Testament prophet because that's exactly what he was he wasn't Old Testament prophet now he lived at a you know a unique sort of transition period the the Prophet and the Old Testament say Jeremiah or Isaiah we're looking way ahead in terms of what they described concerning Jesus John the Baptist however function in the same manner and he highlights two things about John the Baptist first he speaks concerning his baptism of repentance and then secondly he highlights John's testimony concerning the preeminence of Christ notice in verse 24 after John had first preached before his Connie the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel again this is something they would have known this is something they would have understood this is something the contemporary audience would have had in their wheelhouse and such that Paul is saying this is God's purpose and plan John functioned according to the prophet Isaiah John was that forerunner John announced the coming Messiah buck again says he John was the bridge between the promise and realization of the promise the last link in Israel's history before the Messiah came so he's fundamental and crucial you don't just leave John the Baptist out of a discussion of Old Testament history or of God's redemptive work in history John is crucial but then he highlights that John isn't the focus verse 25 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 now they thought John chapter 1 not John the Baptist chapter 1 but John the Apostle writing about John the Baptist in John chapter 1 got to keep your John's clear and distinct but with reference to that John when he comes preaching some say are are you the Messiah and he says no I'm not the Messiah in fact the Messiah is so glorious he is so wonderful he is so awesome I not even fit to loosen his sandal straps I I can't touch him I can't go near him John also says in John 3:30 that he Christ must increase but I must decrease and I've preached on that before and one of the things that I pointed out is that he doesn't say he must increase while I increase a little bit or he must increase while I stay status quo no for John the Baptist he must increase and I must decrease in other words Christ is altogether lovely in chief among ten thousand and when Paul invokes and votes are rather references John the Baptist he wants to make sure that no one thinks that John is the center of salvation history though John says I am worthy to loosen his sandal straps he is the center of salvation history commenting on John's humility Calvin says for though God's servants have their dignity yet being compared to Christ they must all be nothing that he alone may excel as we see all stars vanish away that they may give place to the brightness of the Sun and then Bach in terms of the actual appeal to John he says the humility and submission of John are highlighted here in part to make the point that John is not the center of the story of God's activity but rather Jesus is so that's the exposition that's what Paul does he comes into their synagogue to tell them about Jesus but he comes into their synagogue to tell them about Jesus in a manner that is consistent with their own history and their own scripture he appeals to their law into their profits to show the faithfulness of God Almighty to highlight that that God that Yahweh of Israel promised to send a messiah and that Messiah has arrived the seed of David is Jesus Christ he's the one preached by John the Baptist he is the one heaven sent by God most high for the salvation of Israel and that's why sort of split it up here because I was sure you all didn't want to go past 12:30 but notice in verse 26 he moves from the arrival of the Messiah to an explanation now of the Messiah and he gets more personal in verse 26 men and brethren sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God again those two groups Jew Gentile to you the word of this salvation has been sent see his purpose and plan isn't simply to say I'm better at understanding the law in the prophets my hermeneutic is superior and you're all messed up that's not his point his point is that they come to Jesus his point is is that they look to Jesus his point is that they believe in Jesus his point is is that they end this life of being under the wrath and fury of God - entering into the fullness of joy that's Paul's point that's the the focus of the Apostolic preaching it's not to impress people or dazzle people with knowledge and information but it's rather to present to them the glory of the Savior in all of his ability to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him so he makes this statement in verse 26 he starts to hone in on it and then he explains describes amplifies or exegetes the significance of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and then that brings him as I said earlier to the application in verse 38 therefore let it be known to you brethren that through this man has preached to you the forgiveness of sins he doesn't want to walk out of the synagogue in passivity and Antioch have people slapping him on the back saying wow that was a spin on the law and the prophets I'd never heard before Wow the way you wove that all together and showed how it connected with Jesus was pretty stellar on your part no he wants to walk out of that synagogue knowing that there are sinners saved by the grace of God cleansed in the blood of Jesus knowing the forgiveness of sins and a justification they could have never secured by obedience to the law of Moses that's Paul's heart that's Paul's desire and that's the heart and desire of anybody and everybody who preaches this gospel it's not so that their names can be exalted but so that the name of Christ can be exalted we need more men that are like Paul and more men that are like John the Baptist not men who are so full of themselves and then we're building their own kingdoms and men who are working on their own celebrity we need men to give way to the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ and that is precisely what you see both in the Apostle Paul and in John the Baptist whom he preached in this particular service sermon well in conclusion two thoughts and then we go first the Old Testament background concerning Christ guess what I'm going to say at this point those of you who know me will know that I'm about to say this read your Old Testament I always say read the Bible and by that I mean all of the Bible you don't just pick and choose you get these red letter Christians as if numbers 5 isn't the word of God I think there's been some things that have damaged Bible reading in our day I think the the business of only publishing New Testaments it's kind of half a book it's a great half of a book I'm not going to deny that and certainly it's better than no half of a book but brethren the New Testament flows out of the Old Testament the very identification of old and new see we only like new today we don't want to buy an old car we want to buy a new car so given the opportunity Christians don't want Old Testament they want new Testament the brethren the Old Testament is all about Jesus and as far as I can tell nobody in Scripture ever said okay this is what you're supposed to call this this is the Old Testament and then this is the New Testament that was something man dead and I'm not saying man who did that is the worst possible specimen of a man on the face of the earth but it does hinder a holistic approach to the entirety of scripture brethren Christ is all over the Old Testament Christ is in Genesis Christ is in Leviticus Christ is in Exodus numbers Deuteronomy so if you love Christ you're a believer in Christ you will love the Old Testament you will read it you will survey it and you will find that it affords great benefit and great comfort to the believing soul we reflected on that on Wednesday night in our studies in Genesis in many ways the Old Testament is the Christian life lived certainly you have specimens of that in the New Testament in terms of the people of God but you don't have large swathes of New Testament history being devoted to the day-in day-out goings on in one particular family even to the point of finding wives even to the point of marrying wives even to the point of seemingly being a Baga all of that stuff is there and those who read with an understanding of who Jesus is as the sort of interpretive key with reference to the Old Testament will find that it yields great benefit and great comfort to the believing soul Christ is all over the Old Testament fat doesn't he say this in John 5 you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but these are they which testify of me you see Genesis all of it it's all about Jesus the patriarchs Israel were chosen as the people from whom Jesus Christ would come why the wives why the seed or babies why that instance were Jacob and Leah and Rachel and Bilhah and Zilpah are making a multitude of babies is it because Isaac was the first patriarch to take seriously that mandate to be fruitful and multiply well it might show us that by way of a corollary but the purpose is Judah the purpose is Levi the purpose is the twelve tribes the purpose is that body from whence Christ the Messiah would come to Israel the exodus from Egypt is the great typological paradigm for redemption in Jesus do you know that John's Gospel is sort of structured around three Passover's why is that because John is telling us that in Christ we have Exodus it's interesting in Luke's Gospel when Jesus is on the Mount of Transfiguration and Moses and Elijah appeared to him what do they talk about there they talk about Jesus decease or his departure or literally his Exodus why is that because in Christ we have an exodus that that is anti-typical of what they experienced in Egypt we have the wilderness wanderings demonstrating God's forbearance in their grumblings and in their why and in their complainings but also his nourishing his care for if God is going to take care of his people for 40 years out in the wilderness he's gonna take care of you for the next 40 days I I'd like to think it's gonna take care of you for the next 40 years God doesn't start and then stop he's not like men all of this points us forward the conquest and division of the land was another part of the promise to the patriarchs and what is the land of Canaan ultimately typify it typifies our life in heaven that heavenly Canaan wherein we sit in the marriage supper of the lamb the judges function typically with reference to Jesus when you read the judges think Jesus Christ when you see Samson there with that that uh the the the jaw the jaw bone of the ass when he's striking these Philistines think about Jesus that's what you're supposed to think about it's the victory of God liberating his people the monarchy was typical of the coming king who would forever rule over his people and the line of David was absolutely crucial to that without David there's no Messiah so if you learn one thing today I hope you learned that you're gonna go home and read your Old Testament but then in terms of the preaching of the Apostle Paul we've covered this I'm going to just quickly go he showed wisdom and going to the synagogue he exhorted them to listen we missed that sometimes it's perfectly legitimate to demand a hearing when we're talking about the things of God you know if I was going to come up here and say you know I had a great week this past week on Thursday I you know said some sermon proper you could fall asleep until the cows come home and I'll salute you doing it but if the preaching is accurate if it's exegetically correct if it is a presentation of Jesus Christ and him crucified II need to pay attention you need to listen I think it was Samuel Davies was it Samuel Davies he was preaching and and one in the audience was a nobleman it might have been I want to say it was an instance where there was you know monarch and in the prize of this preacher and he started falling asleep and he said something to the effect that when a lion roars and the wilderness the beasts of the earth take heed he essentially said if I've come here to share my own thoughts or to share my own experience is there to share my own thing go ahead and have a nap when the lion roars the beasts of the field are to take heed I think that's significant Paul doesn't preach simply for the exercise of preaching Paul preaches to be heard so that these people can hear believe and be saved as well he displays a thorough understanding of law and profits he demonstrates how law in profits inevitably lead to Jesus Christ and not away from him he courageously does this in a place that is opposed to him when we get to the end and the fallout from this gentiles are begging that he can preach again and the jews want to run him out of the city there is opposition to Jesus Christ and Paul is very keenly aware of that and yet he stands up in the myths and he preaches and he exhorts the hearers to believe on Jesus for salvation that's the point verse 38 brings it home and this is what I'd like for all of you to consider there for it let it be known to you brethren that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins if you are in your sins today if you have not come to God through Jesus if you are justly liable to the wrath and fury and punishment of God I want you to hear what Paul says that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins how do we ever conclude that God really doesn't want to save sinners not only sort of saves a handful of sinners and he does that in a way that that he's not really bountiful in this who was the one that raised up for Israel a savior Jesus it was God God takes the initiative God sends the cybers love God comes to redeem his people from their sins in the second person of the Trinity God is Pro salvation if you have been taught the opposite then may I say to you listen to praccs 1338 let it be no to you brethren that through this man is preach to you the forgiveness of sins your idolatry your blasphemy your Sabbath breaking your insubordination your murder your adultery your theft your lies your consciousness there is forgiveness through Christ Jesus the Lord why will you die the Prophet says Ezekiel says to the nation of Israel turn and live well let us pray father we thank you for your word and we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ all the Bible sets him forth in his beauty and his majesty and in his power to save and I pray that all of us would have that conviction even now that all of us would be looking to him in faith that all of us would know that forgiveness of sins that is most blessed and most wonderful and most glorious god I pray that you would plow up hearts bring that conviction for sin and set forth Jesus that one who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand and we pray this in his most blessed name Amen well let's close our service by singing and standing rather in singing number 568 568 and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace father thank you for your son the Lord Jesus thank you that he is the savior for sinners thank you for that forgiveness that you'd give us in him and that righteousness that avails with God we are so amazed at your mercy and at your grace your goodness and kindness and I pray that these things would encourage our hearts that you would stabilize us that you would help us to persevere and help us to recognize as Asaph does that God is good to Israel and we pray this in Jesus blessed name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation