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You can turn in your Bibles back 
to the book of Acts. The book of Acts, we're going 
to continue with this morning's message on the cross of Christ 
in the book of Acts. Remember, we noted this morning 
that we have the book of Acts by virtue of the crosswork of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. It is part of the covenant canon, 
the covenant document that we have that comes to us by virtue 
of Christ ratifying the new covenant in his most precious blood. We 
also noted before we got into those elements, those specific 
aspects of the cross in the book of Acts, we noted that the central 
proclaiming focus of the book of Acts is Christ upon the cross 
working out the salvation of sinners. The cross is central 
to apostolic proclamation. We're going to read from Acts 
13 tonight as we look at the last two things of the cross 
of Christ in the book of Acts. And we'll get to those two things 
after we read the text and pray. Acts 13, beginning at verse 26. 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, and 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. Now 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 Now 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. Amen. Well, let us open again 
in prayer. Our righteous God, we thank you 
for the reading of your holy word. We thank you that we can 
hold your full Bible in our hands. We pray that you would bless 
now this time of preaching, that you would come, the Holy Spirit, 
that you would send the Holy Spirit, Lord God, to work upon 
us, that saints would be edified, that sinners would be saved, 
as we focus on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray 
yet again that the exercise of your saints here this evening 
would be unto the praise of your glorious grace and unto the exaltation 
of Jesus Christ, our blessed Redeemer. We pray in His most 
precious name. Amen. Well, this morning we started 
to look at the cross of Christ in the book of Acts. won't be 
an expositional sermon, though hopefully some exposition will 
take place as we look at certain texts. But continuing the topical 
sermon from this morning, the cross of Christ in the book of 
Acts, by way of review, we looked first off at the divine purpose 
of the cross. The cross was planned by God 
in eternity before the foundation of the world, Acts 2.23, Acts 
4.27 and 28. We noted, secondly, divine promise, 
that that purposed cross was announced by God throughout the 
history that led up to it, Acts 3, 18 to 26. Remember, all the 
prophets from Moses to the last prophet, we could say John the 
Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, all the prophets 
of God in the Old Testament spoke concerning Jesus. That's what 
Peter says in Acts 3. Thirdly, we notice divine providence. The purposed and promised cross 
was carried out through human means. The purposed and promised 
cross was carried out through human means. Again, Acts 2, 23. 
Acts 4, 27 and 28. Herod and Pontius Pilate and 
the Gentiles and the people of Israel were all gathered together 
with wicked intent to crucify the Lord of glory. The providential 
and human means by which God brought about the salvation of 
His people. And the last point that we looked 
at before we stopped was divine performance. Divine performance. The purposed, promised, and providentially 
accomplished cross was completed by God. We noted Acts 20, 28. We do not have a human Redeemer 
strictly and solely speaking, but we have the God-Man, Jesus 
Christ. Jesus, our Lord, fully God and 
fully man. who bore God's curse upon Calvary's 
tree. Well, this evening we'll look 
at, first off, divine proclamation. The cross of purpose, promise, 
providence, and performance was heralded by God sent messengers. And secondly, divine proficiency. The cross of purpose, promise, 
providence, performance, and proclamation was efficiently 
applied. First off, Divine proclamation. Divine proclamation. Why do we 
say divine proclamation? Well, first off, because God 
sends his heralds to proclaim the message of the cross. Human 
messengers aren't sent by human dignitaries. The men who proclaimed 
the truth of the cross were not sent by themselves, but rather 
it is the Lord God who sent them. And we have that in the text. 
that we read tonight. The proclaimers of Jesus and 
the cross are sent by God. Notice at Acts 13, verse 47. Acts 13, verse 47. 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. The 
Lord God has commanded the apostolic proclaimers of the cross of Christ 
to go therefore into all the world and preach the crucified 
and resurrected Messiah. God sends his cross-proclaiming 
messengers. And Christ, we note at the beginning 
of Acts, if you turn there with me, Acts chapter 1, Christ himself 
is seen here prior to his ascension as the crucified and now resurrected 
and soon to be ascended sender of his apostolic messengers. Verse 7 of Acts chapter 1, and 
he said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons 
which the Father has put in his own authority. Verse 8, but you 
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you 
and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea 
and Samaria and to the end of the earth. You see, Jesus Christ, 
and this is another proof of his deity, it is the Lord Jesus 
Christ who sends apostles and prophets to proclaim the message 
of himself. We use the term when we define 
divine proclamation as this, the cross of purpose, promise, 
providence, and performance was heralded by God-sent messengers. The messengers of Jesus Christ, 
those who proclaim the riches and the excellencies of our crucified 
and resurrected Jesus, are heralds. That doesn't mean, kids, the 
name Harold, H-A-R-O-L-D, but Harold, H-E-R-A-L-D. They're heralds. If anybody has 
ever watched cartoons, I just remember this from my childhood. 
I don't know if they still do this in cartoons, and I think 
I may have used this illustration before, but in the old Looney 
Tunes cartoons, you would have a king, or rather, you would 
have a herald sent by a king who would come to a village and 
roll out a scroll, and he would say, hear ye, hear ye the words 
of the king, or something like that. Well, you see, that might 
be funny, but that's what we have in the Bible. We have the 
king, the king of kings and the Lord of lords sending forth heralds, 
that is, divinely sent messengers to figuratively speaking, roll 
out the scroll, not figuratively speaking because we had the parchments 
and the scrolls, but to roll out the scroll and to say, hear 
ye, hear ye. Listen to the words of the king. 
He came in the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born 
under the law that he might redeem guilty sinners from the curse 
of the law. We have in the Bible the risen 
and glorified King, dispatching heralds to go out into the world 
to proclaim His saving work. Turn with me to Matthew 23 for 
a moment. Matthew 23. I know this is the 
cross of Christ in the book of Acts, but we have 66 books to 
avail of. And this portion of Matthew 23, 
we see the fulfillment of this in the book of Acts. In Matthew 
23, near the end, after Christ is, or while Christ is proclaiming 
these maledictory words, these curses upon unbelieving Jews, 
he says this at verse 31. Therefore, you are witnesses 
against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered 
the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of 
your father's guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers, how 
can you escape the condemnation of hell? Now notice here, verse 
34, Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and 
crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues 
and persecute. from city to city, that on you 
may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood 
of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, 
whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, 
I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." 
So you see, when we get to the book of Acts, we see exactly 
what Christ promised here. Therefore, I send you prophets. wise men and scribes. Some of 
them you will kill and crucify. Some of you will you'll scourge 
in the synagogues and persecute from city to city. The outset 
of the book of Acts and the text we already read, we see the beginning 
of the fulfillment of that prophecy and that sure and certain promise. But you shall receive power when 
the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses 
to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria. even unto 
the ends of the earth. The gospel or the, why do we 
say divine proclamation? It is because God sends his heralds 
to proclaim the cross. Why also do we say divine proclamation? Because the proclaimed message 
of the cross is of divine origin. The proclaimed message of the 
cross is of divine origin. It is not of human contrivance. It is not of human creation. 
Man did not make up the message of the cross. The message of 
the cross is of divine origin. Peter says, well, let's read 
from the book of Acts first, and then we can branch out. Acts 
13, back to it, if you can navigate your way back there. Acts 13 
and verse 49, the message that was proclaimed by the first apostles, 
the message that is now proclaimed by true gospel ministers is of 
divine origin and authority. Acts 13 verse 49, after Paul 
preached this gospel message, we read, and the word of the 
Lord was being spread throughout all the region. That might not 
come as a shock to you, but hopefully your Christian minds glory in 
this truth, that the message proclaimed is not the word of 
man, it is the word of the living and true God. You see, Peter 
writes in his second epistle something that ought to warm 
our hearts and cause us to exalt in the Lord. He writes, we did 
not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to 
you the power and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 
eyewitnesses of his majesty. You see, the message of the cross 
is not a cunningly devised fable. It's not the creation of man. It is, and we have to think about 
this for a moment as we understand and if we can for a moment meditate 
upon our Bibles. Would men ever come up with the 
Bible and the message that's in it? A triune God who is holy 
and perfect, wholly removed from his creation in the sense of 
his holiness and his perfections and all his glorious attributes. 
who would punctuate time and history to come into our lower 
world, which is marked by depravity and sin and wickedness. Would 
man ever picture himself as a worm, as a sinner, as one who is wholly 
unable to affect anything unto spiritual change and salvation? Man would never depict himself 
like that. Would man depict his hero as one who is not even worthy 
to look upon? Isaiah 53, a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces 
from him. He was despised and rejected 
by men. If we were, and the history of mankind clearly tells us this, 
just look at the Greco-Roman history and Homer's Iliad and 
the tales of heroes. You won't find one who's despised 
and rejected by men. who is the God-man who comes 
into time and history to bear the shame of a cross in order 
to bring sinners to everlasting life. Men do not contrive a story 
like this because this story puts man in his proper place 
low, puts God in his proper place high, and speaks of this Jesus 
Christ, the divine and human one, the theanthropic one, the 
God-man who comes into the world sinners to save. The proclaimed 
message of the cross is of divine origin. How else can we say that 
this is divine proclamation? Because God has purpose to use 
the proclamation of the cross to save sinners. We see that 
in Acts 13 here, beginning at verse 38. Well, near the end 
of verse 38. 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. We move down to verse 48. Now, 
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. So this message is divine proclamation 
because God has purpose to use proclamation of His Word and 
the cross to save sinners. You see, God promises, or God 
first off, remember, purposes the cross. He purposes to send 
Jesus Christ in the fullness of the times to be born of a 
woman, born under the law to save. He promises that throughout 
all of Old Covenant revelation. He providentially brings it to 
bear in perfection in time and in history. The cross is completed. It is perfected. It is performed. He then proclaims it. He then 
proclaims it. The accomplished cross is proclaimed 
unto those who are its intended recipients, so that by that proclamation, 
God would send the Holy Spirit, causing them to be made alive 
in Christ Jesus. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians. 
1 Corinthians in chapter 1, because here we see that principle set 
before us clearly, that God has purpose to use the proclamation 
of the cross to save sinners. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21. We could read the entire context 
because the entire context is glorious and speaks concerning 
the wisdom of the cross and the foolishness of humanistic wisdom, 
but at verse 21 we get our point. For since in the wisdom of God 
the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God 
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those 
who believe." A simple and glorious statement. How does God save 
sinners? By the message preached. You know, the simplicity of preaching 
the message. We don't need to cart in puppets. We don't need to cart in artwork. We don't need to bring people 
up here to perform a mime act in order to communicate the gospel. 
We don't need drama. We don't need, you know, elaborate 
anything. We need the preaching of the 
word of the living Christ. The true and faithful proclamation 
of that perfect Jesus who came into this world, sinners to save, 
who lived a perfect life, who died a glorious and perfect death, 
though it was shameful according to his own attestation. The resurrection. which was that perfect testification 
of the validity of His dying and saving work and the glorious 
victory from death and hell. And we preach those glorious 
truths to the sinner. And by God's grace, working with 
that message, sinners are saved to the praise of His grace. When 
God deems a particular way of saving sinners, we don't change 
it. We don't adjust it to please 
the audience. We don't adjust it according 
to market strategies. We are faithful to the living 
Christ, to the powerful God of heaven and earth, who saw it, 
who deemed it well, not to bring to bear his perfect salvation 
by the wisdom of the world. Why? For since in the wisdom 
of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, but rather 
it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save 
those who believe. It worked 2,000 years ago, it 
still works today. And that is the method whereby 
God brings his elect into his kingdom. Fourthly, why can we 
say divine proclamation? Because when preachers preach 
the truth of the cross, it is God pleading or preaching through 
them. Why is it divine proclamation 
when Paul preaches? Because it is Paul preaching, 
or it is God preaching and pleading through Paul. That's what Paul 
says himself in his second letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 
chapter 5. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, the 
message of the gospel being proclaimed faithfully, it is as though God 
is preaching. Verse 20 of 2 Corinthians 5, 
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were 
pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled 
to God. You see, it is God who preaches. It is divine proclamation, human 
vessels, human cracked pots, which though nevertheless proclaim 
the riches and the excellencies of gospel treasures to needful 
ears. It is God as it is as though, 
as if, God is pleading through His apostolic witnesses and through 
His true gospel preachers, we implore you on Christ's behalf, 
be reconciled to God. In Ephesians chapter 2, and you 
can read that later, I believe it's verses 16 and 17, there, 
Paul says that Christ came and preached peace to the Ephesians. 
Which is amazing, because the Lord Jesus Christ never went 
beyond the borders of Jerusalem. He had a very small geographic 
scope of his earthly ministry. And that was by design. It was 
by divine design because he, on his ascension, would send 
his spirit so that his witnesses would go to Jerusalem, yes, but 
also to Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the 
earth. But Jesus never went beyond the borders of a small geographical 
area. He never went to Ephesus. Yet, 
Paul can say that Christ came to you, Ephesian Christians, 
and preach peace to you. How can he say that? Well, because 
in Acts 19, he himself, Paul, went to Ephesus, and in the mire 
and the muck and the madness of people worshiping a three-breasted 
goddess, he can say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
you will be saved. And it is, as he is doing that, 
as though God is preaching through him. When preachers preach the 
truth of the cross, it is God preaching and pleading through 
them. Before we close up this divine 
proclamation, we must make this observation, the simple observation 
that the central message of proclamation in the book of Acts is the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 2.23, remember what we have 
there. We'll work through a few texts 
here, but from the outset of apostolic proclamation, We have 
Jesus Christ crucified. We have Jesus Christ as that 
one, sacrificially and substitutionarily, bearing the sins of His people 
upon that Roman implement. Acts 2.23, again, Him being delivered 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have 
taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death. We also have Acts 2.44. If you 
scan a little bit further down, 36. Therefore, let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom 
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts chapter 3 at verse 
13. Acts 3 and verse 13. We read, the God of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant 
Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of 
Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied 
the Holy One and the just, and asked for a murderer to be granted 
to you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from 
the dead, of which we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in 
his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know." And one 
other text, though there are more, Acts 5 at verse 29. Acts 5 at verse 29. Notice here, 
but Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to 
obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised 
up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has 
exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior. to give 
repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses 
to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God 
has given to those who obey him." And he repeats it at verse 40. 
And they agreed with him. And when they had called for 
the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should 
not speak in the name of Jesus and let him go. So they departed 
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted 
worthy to suffer shame for his name. And now notice, in daily 
in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and 
preaching Jesus as the Christ. You see, when we read that general 
statement, we really should be thinking cross. When we read, 
they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ, 
we should be thinking that servant, that anointed one, that the old 
covenant promise would come to be pierced for our transgressions, 
to bear our iniquities, to have put upon him the chastisement 
for our peace. The centrality of the cross. 
Now, you might be saying, you see, we read the book of Acts, 
and when a preacher says the centrality of the cross, he's 
not discounting when the preachers in the book of Acts often bring 
up, very often bring up, and God raised him from the dead. You see, the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ, when we say the cross is central, that doesn't 
mean we don't glory in and rejoice in the resurrection. But you 
see, it is the resurrection that serves the cross. It is the incarnation 
of Christ that serves the cross. There are multitudinous glories 
of Jesus Christ and events in his life that the preacher is 
to have an eye upon and is to, with his mouth, proclaim to the 
people. However, it is the cross of Christ that is central. How 
do we know this? The Apostle Paul, for I determined 
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What is the apostolic confession 
of their proclamation? We preach Christ crucified. I like what Spurgeon said of 
the Apostle Paul. He said, Christ upon the cross, 
working out the salvation of men, was more to him, Paul, than 
all the sayings of the sages. Sages, the wise men, the pagan 
wise men out there in the Greco-Roman world of his contemporaneous 
time. You see, the sages had many philosophies, 
much wisdom spewing from beard stroking and mouth opening. They 
had a lot to say. They had a lot to say. But you see, to Paul, this bloody 
Christ upon the cross, working out the salvation of sinners, 
was more to him, not just in a few sayings of the sages, but 
all of the sayings of the sages. You bring to Paul 78 libraries 
full of the sayings of the sages, and he'll say, Jesus Christ and 
Him crucified. That is the wisdom and the power 
of God. And Spurgeon would go on to say in that sermon on Galatians 
6.14, remember what that verse says, it says, What does it say? Galatians 6.14, help me out here. 
Oh, for we glory in the cross. Why did I lose it? Galatians 
6.14. God forbid, thank you, that I 
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God 
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. What does Spurgeon say regarding 
Paul on that? He gloried in the cross of Christ. Not that he didn't glory in the 
resurrection. Not that he didn't glory in the Incarnation. The 
Incarnation, a miraculous and glorious truth. The God of heaven 
and earth, the second of the blessed triune, coming in time 
and in history to be enfleshed as a bondservant, coming in the 
likeness of men, to be obedience unto death, even the death of 
the cross. It's a glorious reality, the 
Incarnation, the resurrection. Divine power and glory displayed. But you see, it is the cross 
that Paul says we preach. We preach Christ crucified. Because there he saw the wisdom 
and the power of God displayed. Because the attributes of God 
are perfectly and harmoniously exercised and exhausted at the 
cross. The wrath of God, exhausted at 
the cross. The love of God, fully displayed 
at the cross. You list the attributes of God, 
and at the cross, there we have them declared to Jew and Gentile, 
to the praise of our glorious God. This is a, just before we 
move on and close with divine proficiency, a quote from Calvin. This is Calvin actually dealing 
with icons and images. You see, at his time, the Roman 
Catholic Church was large, they were prominent, they were powerful. 
And in their churches, they would display implements and images, 
and they'd have a big cross behind them and many other crosses elsewhere. 
Wood crosses, silver crosses, gold crosses, bejeweled crosses 
all over the place. Calvin is speaking with regards 
to crosses being displayed in churches. And he is saying that 
there are two things besides the violation of one of the Ten 
Commandments, specifically the second. There are two things 
that Calvin says are reasons against the Protestant use of 
crosses. And he says this, Paul declares 
that by the true preaching of the gospel, Christ is portrayed 
and in a manner crucified before our eyes. Of what use then were 
the erection in churches of so many crosses of wood and stone, 
silver and gold, if this doctrine were faithfully and honestly 
preached? That is to say, Christ died that he might bear our curse 
upon the tree, that he might expiate our sins by the sacrifice 
of his body, wash them in his blood, and in short, reconcile 
us to God the Father. From this one doctrine, the people 
would learn more than from a thousand crosses of wood and stone. As 
for crosses of gold and silver, it may be true that the avaricious 
give their eyes and minds to them more eagerly than to any 
heavenly instructor. In other words, to paraphrase 
Calvin, we don't need a physical cross, the symbol of a vertical 
and horizontal beam, however plain or however bedecked with 
jewels, because if the gospel of Jesus Christ is faithfully 
proclaimed, it is as if, with eyes of faith, we're looking 
upon the crucified Messiah, and seeing his glory, and seeing 
the efficacy and the power of his saving work. We need not 
crosses. A bejeweled cross, bedecked with 
diamonds and jewels, speaks meaningless nothingness. But the accurate 
proclamation of Jesus Christ crucified thereon, a faithful 
word, fitly spoken, speaks biblical volumes of the efficacy and the 
power of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord. Divine proclamation The 
cross of purpose, promise, providence, and performance was heralded 
by God-sent messengers. If you want to know what the 
second thing Calvin said was a reason against the Protestant 
use of crosses, he said the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's 
Supper. When we administer the Lord's Supper and when we baptize, 
we have living symbols of the cross of Jesus Christ. Preaching 
and the sacraments, the ordinances, two reasons why we need not physical 
symbols. Lastly, and as we close here, 
divine proficiency. Divine proficiency. The cross 
of purpose, promise, providence, performance, and proclamation 
was efficiently applied. The cross, the efficacy of the 
cross, the power of the cross, all of the glory of the cross 
is efficiently applied by our triune God. In other words, All 
those whom the cross was to be beneficial for receive the benefits 
of that cross. Christ died upon the cross of 
Calvary's tree, not to render an atonement of maybe, not to 
render a sacrifice and a substitutionary work of perhaps, but to perfectly 
secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can number. The intended 
effects of the cross are brought to perfection and completion 
by God. Where can we see this in the 
book of Acts? Well, let's have a look at Acts 13, verse 48 again. Acts 13, verse 48. Notice this 
is at the end of Paul's preaching at Pisidian Antioch. This is 
at the end of Paul's preaching where he has preached to Jew 
and to Gentile. He has proclaimed the gospel 
to Jew and to Gentile. The Jews at large reject. but 
the Gentiles at large were glad and glorified the word of the 
Lord. And notice at verse 48 at the end, and as many as had 
been appointed to eternal life, believe. It's a simple statement, 
but it is a statement packed with theology. The cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ is efficacious for all those who believe. By 
that proclamation, we have divine proficiency when we see when 
we read this narrative, and as many as had been appointed to 
eternal life believed. You see, the preaching of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, that is, the preaching of proclaimers of Him, 
proclaiming His life, death, and resurrection, the message 
of the Gospel, that preaching has as its foundation divine 
election. God before the foundation of 
the world did what, according to Paul in Ephesians 1-4? He 
chose us. in Him before the foundation 
of the world that we would be holy and without blame before 
Him. In love, having predestined us 
unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ Himself according to the 
counsel of His own will. We have the message or the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ promised. And we have in time and in history 
that promise coming to bear. coming to fruition, coming to 
fulfillment, when the message is preached and as many as have 
been appointed to eternal life believed. You see, the proclamation 
of the gospel, as we're talking about divine proficiency, the 
proclamation of the gospel never misses its divine mark. You need 
to get that as Christians. You need to get that. The proclamation 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ never misses its mark because 
as many as are appointed to eternal life will believe. There is no 
failure in divine proclamation. Well, why do so many not believe? 
Well, isn't the unbelief of those who will end up being the recipients 
of God's divine justice a sweet-smelling aroma in the nostrils of our 
God? When a proclaimer of the gospel 
faithfully preaches to an audience of, let's say, 100, and one believes, 
and 99 reject and take off, there is much rejoicing in heaven. 
And it's not just, though it is, it's not just rejoicing in 
the one that's saved, but it's rejoicing that the proclamation 
of the cross of Christ has been faithfully proclaimed. And it 
is a glorious rejoicing that those 99, humanly speaking, there 
is a tragedy of immense proportions in rejecting the one who is altogether 
lovely, chief among 10,000, my beloved and my friend. But on 
that great day, when the verdict is declared, go into the lake 
of fire reserved for the devil and his angels, there will be 
much rejoicing in heaven. Why? Because divine justice was 
rendered. The book of Revelation, we read 
that. The smoke of ungodly, the whore of Babylon goes up. And 
what do the people gathered around the throne of God do when that 
apostate nation is judged? They rejoice in the Lord. Because 
true and holy are your judgments, Lord God. The preaching of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ never misses its mark. It lands always 
upon the heart with divine proficiency. Sometimes the heart is stirred 
unto belief, other times the heart is stirred unto railing 
against the message, gnashing with teeth, and putting a Christian 
to death. But it always finds its divine 
and providential mark to the praise of God's glorious grace. So brethren, we have those six 
Ps of the cross of Christ in the book of Acts. Purpose, promise, 
providence, performance, proclamation, and proficiency. And I hope we 
get it as we now look after we pray to observe the Lord's Supper. 
The cross is glorious, isn't it? The cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. You see, you know, the cross, 
it's not just one among many truths. There's a lot of truths 
in, you know, we can talk about Noah's Ark. We can talk about 
how tall Goliath was. Nine cubits, I think. Maybe I 
have that wrong. Nine cubits? Three cubits? Anyway, we'll look 
at that later. We can talk about Moses and the 
Ten Commandments and many truths that the Bible reveals, but if 
we miss this point, that the Bible is Christocentric and that 
Noah's Ark, the account of David and Goliath, JL ramming a peg 
through Sisera's head, Moses, the Ten Commandments, Israel, 
all of those things, if we miss the point that all of these things 
are signposts pointing unto the Lord Jesus Christ, then we've 
missed a lot of the Bible. Jesus said to his disciples, 
the law, the prophets, and the Psalms, all these things spoke 
concerning me. At the point of the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, we see the point of revelation. the 
point of time and in history, the point of so much apostolic 
and prophetic, apologetic rigor from the time of Adam to the 
time of Chilliwack tonight at 6 p.m. We have the cross as the 
reason for history. So as we engage in this ordinance 
tonight, joyfully and seriously, let us remember this cross, the 
one that was purposed, the one that was promised, the one that 
was providentially accomplished, the one that was divinely performed, 
proclaimed, and proficiently carried out. Let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
We thank you for what it means with regards to the salvation 
of sinners, that he died not a death of perhaps and maybe, 
but a death of perfection, so as to secure the salvation of 
a multitude that no man can number. We pray as we now engage in this 
Lord's Supper, we would ask, Lord God, that you would help 
us Help us to have our minds reflecting upon the truths of 
Holy Scripture, that you would help us, Lord God, to specifically 
be meditating upon the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
His body was broken for us, that His blood was shed for us, and 
that we would joyfully obey His command to do this in remembrance 
of Him. We just ask, Lord God, that you 
would be with us, and for those who are outside of Christ as 
they observe, We do pray that this would be a living symbol 
of the gospel, having already preached concerning the cross, 
that this exercise of your saints in undergoing or observing this 
particular ordinance of the Lord's Supper, that unbelievers, young 
and old, would watch and see and ask, how might I eat? And 
we just pray that in time, they would bend an knee to Jesus Christ 
by your grace and by your word, so that they might join with 
us as your saints Observing this this act of remembrance remembering 
our Savior unto the praise of your glory We just pray that 
you'd be with us now help us as we further engage in worship 
Be with us and help us to bring about your glory by this worship 
act and we pray in Christ's name