The View of Christ Raised

of the resurrection and of really
the perspective of Christ risen. What do we see in Christ risen?
And we go to the Apostle Paul, but not to one of his epistles
as you might assume, but to the book of Acts, if you would, to
Acts 13. If you’re familiar with the book
of Acts, you know that the first 12 chapters are dedicated largely
to the apostle, the apostles in general, and specifically
to Peter, the apostle. But in chapter 13, the focus
shifts abruptly and dramatically to the apostle Paul and to his
ministry here, as we find it in what we would call even perhaps
Luke volume two. Luke shifts the focus to Paul
and his ministry, and he does so right in the beginning verses
of chapter 13. As we often do, get a little
bit of perspective and overview, and then we’ll take a running
start at the passage that we’ll be considering there beginning
in verse 26. At least that portion is contained
in your bulletin this morning. Trey was a little bit concerned
that we might not have enough material. If I run out of material,
I promise we’ll have maybe some prayer time at the end. At the beginning of Acts chapter
13, we know of that setting as Paul’s first missionary journey.
And as we saw, even from our consideration of the book of
Philippians and how the Philippian church was planted, we know that
this all fits into that context. But if you trace the roots back,
this is the inception of Paul’s ministry. Paul was already ministering
there in the church. But now he is sent out formally. And we saw how important that
was in our consideration of the Philippian church, the sentness
that the servants of God so often had. And here we see it again.
Look at verse one of chapter 13, where Luke records, there
were at Antioch in the church that was there prophets and teachers,
those who proclaimed Christ and taught the scriptures, first
of whom was Barnabas, who was associated with the church almost
from its inception, the great encourager, and Simeon, who was
called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manan, who had been brought
up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. And while they were ministering
to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for
me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them.
Then when they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands
on them and sent them away.” There was a sentness to Paul’s
ministry and to Barnabas here as well. I want you to pick up,
if you will, in verse 13. Now Paul and his companions put
out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga and Pamphylia, but John
left them and returned to Jerusalem.” And you’ll remember from our
consideration of the establishment of the Philippian church, this
was the breach. This was the breach that not
only affected Paul’s relationship with John Mark, but even Paul’s
relationship with Barnabas as they set to Barnabas desire to
take John Mark out for a second run at the ministry. And Paul
basically put an end to that and it even caused a division.
This is the point. And you almost read past that
as if nothing at all takes place. We know it was a big deal. But
going on from Perga, they arrived in Pisidian, Antioch. And on
the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. And
that was Paul’s habit. That was his first place of ministry
everywhere he would go. If you remember the context,
that’s even how he came to establish the Philippian church in God’s
providence. He went looking for a synagogue. There weren’t even
enough Jews in the city of Philippi to constitute a formal synagogue.
And so Paul went to the place of the river where the ladies
had met. And that basically was the beginning of the Philippian
church. It is recorded there in verse 15 that after reading
of the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent
to them saying, Brethren, if any of you have a word of exhortation
for the people, say it now. You’ve got to just know, I mean,
half the time I’m sitting here, I’m chomping at the bit. I can’t
even wait to get up here. You know, if somebody asked me
about, you know, an announcement or some little point, I’m in
another world. It starts usually on about Saturday
afternoon. And I go into this what Barb
calls the zone. And, you know, I’m telling you,
Paul was chomping at the bit. And we’ve all been given various
privileges and opportunities like this. Maybe somebody throws
you a fastball right across the plate and says, so what is it
you believe? Or why are you so happy? Or why
do you do your job the way you do it? That was this opportunity. I can remember one time my grandmother
had died, a staunch Roman Catholic. And sitting in the room, my dad
wanted me to do a reading and the priest just asked me, would
you like to say something? OK, so I did the reading and
then I said something for about 30 minutes. That is the situation
here. Paul was squirming in his seat
and the synagogue official says, if you have any expectations,
you know, do you have anything to say to us? Well, Paul, I mean,
seized the opportunity. Look at verse 16. And they probably
knew they were in trouble when Paul stood up. Paul stood up
and motioning with his hand said, men of Israel and you who fear
God, listen. And he begins to, I mean, it’s
just absolutely bears the marks of a divine work coursing through
Paul, because he basically recounts for the Jews. And by the time
he’s 10 words into this thing, he has them. They’re absolutely
riveted by what he’s bringing them. Listen what he does. Men of Israel and you who fear
God. And what he talks about is not only the formal Jews,
but those proselytes, the Gentiles who feared God, even though they
were not part of the formal chosen people. The God of this people,
Israel, The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers, speaking
of God’s sovereignty in those things, and made the people great
during their stay in Egypt. And by now, all the Jews are
just giddy with delight. Paul is doing the very thing
that Deuteronomy commands, is to constantly remember these
things and constantly bring them up in their minds and constantly
review what God had done. He made the people great during
their stay in the land of Egypt. With an uplifted arm, He led
them out from it. For a period of about 40 years,
He put up with them in the wilderness. God’s long-suffering was a chief
element to the Jews. They loved the long-suffering
of God, and don’t we all? Verse 19, when he destroyed seven
nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land as
an inheritance. And what Paul does is just go
through this passage time after time, point after point, recounting
all the things that God had done for them. He chose. He made the people great. He
led them. He put up with them. He distributed
their land. Verse 20, after these things,
He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked
for the king. God gave them Saul the son of
Kish. The great reminder, be careful
what you ask for. Verse 22, After he had removed
him, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he
also testified and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse,
a man after my own heart who will do all my will. From the
descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to
Israel a Savior.” And you had to hear a pin drop when he said
that. The Messiah was everything to
the Jews. The anticipation of the Holy
One of Israel that God was going to bring was everything to the
Jews. And now to know that God has
brought to Israel a Savior. This is the most important sermon
they have ever heard. God has brought to Israel a Savior,
Jesus. after John had proclaimed before
his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And while John was completing
his course, he kept saying, what do you suppose that I am? I am
not he, but behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose
feet I am not worthy to untie.” Paul’s message to them declared
and demonstrated, proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah as
promised to King David. And he traced the Jewish history
down through the centuries and God’s activity and how he guided
providentially the nation. And he ultimately brings it into
a focus with their precious and illustrious King David. And he
said that Jesus was his descendant. Jesus was the descendant of the
Davidic line and was the fulfillment to all the promises made to Israel
with regards to the Messiah. Perhaps Paul stopped to take
a breath, a bite brief, and he delves into the resurrection
of Jesus Christ and he gives us three magnificent perspectives
of Christ risen. Pick up with me, if you would,
in verse 26. Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family and those among
you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.
For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, recognizing
neither him nor the utterances of the prophets, which are read
every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him. And though
they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate
that he might be executed. When they had carried out all
that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross
and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead.
And for many days he appeared to those who came up with him
from Galilee to Jerusalem, to the very ones who are now his
witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good
news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled
this promise to our children, in that he raised up Jesus, as
it is also written in the second psalm, you are my son, today
I have begotten you. As for the fact that he raised
him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, he has spoken
this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David
Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not allow your
holy one to undergo decay. For David, after he had served
the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was
laid among his fathers and underwent decay. But he whom God raised
did not undergo decay. Therefore, let it be known to
you, brethren, that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed
to you. And through him, everyone who
believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed
through the law of Moses. Therefore, take heed. So that
the thing spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you. Behold,
you scoffers, and marvel and perish, for I am accomplishing
a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though
someone should describe it to you. As I said, it was the most
important sermon that these people had ever heard because it was
the sermon, the proclamation of the Messiah, not as prophesied,
but as having come. As I said, if you glance through
this brief passage, you do see a variety of perspectives of
the resurrection, a variety of things in view of Christ resurrected. I just want to look at three
this morning. The three-fold view of the resurrection. First
of all, the resurrection of Jesus Christ historically verified,
beginning in verse 26. When Paul begins there this sermon,
And he brings up this point that this is the message of salvation
and that it is to us. Even though throughout his entire
address, Paul tries to avoid a pestersome or an irritation of
the Jews. He avoids all those controversial
subjects so that he wouldn’t offend their consciences and
their prejudices. And often through the course
of this discussion, as it was so common to him, he aligns himself
with him insofar as he’s able. He was a Jew. And he says this
message is for us. This message of salvation, which
was already mentioned in verse 23, God has brought to Israel
a Savior, Jesus, in that he piqued their interest. And now he’s
just unfolding what the message is, what this message of salvation
is. Look at verse 27, he begins to
get into it. What is this message? Those who
live in Jerusalem and the rulers recognizing neither him nor the
utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath. He put
them right in with them as well. They knew the scriptures, they
knew that the scripture prophesied of a suffering Messiah. And those
scriptures were fulfilled, Acts chapter three records. from Peter. And now, brethren, I know that
you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also. He puts
them in with them and essentially says, look, if you had been there,
you’d have done the same thing. But the things which God announced
beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that is, Christ
would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. This was a fulfillment of prophecy,
as we’ll see in a moment. Therefore, repent and return
so that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing
may come from the presence of the Lord. And he may send Jesus,
the Christ appointed for you. He pleads with them to reconsider,
to not go the way that their Jewish forefathers and predecessors
had done in punishing and persecuting all of the prophets, even down
to and including Christ. He goes on in verse 28 and says,
And though they found no ground for putting him to death, they
asked Pilate that he be executed. Acts 3, again, earlier in that
same message, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered
and disowned in the presence of Pilate. When he had decided
to release him, Pilate wanted to be rid of it. The Jews would
have none of it. Matthew 27 records that when
Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot
was starting, he took water and he washed his hands in front
of the crowd symbolically, saying, I am innocent of this man’s blood. See to it. See to that yourselves. Verse 29 goes on to point out
that when they had carried out all that was written concerning
him, All of those prophecies, Isaiah 53 and all of those prophecies
that spoke of the suffering Savior, Psalm 22 and the like, all of
those needed to be fulfilled. And it says that when they had
carried out all that was written concerning Him, not a prophecy
was missed. They took Him down from the cross
and laid Him in a tomb. The Gospel of John records it. After these things, Joseph of
Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear
of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of
Jesus. Pilate granted permission. So
he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who had first come
to him by name, came also bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus
and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial
custom of the Jews. Now, in the place where he was
crucified, there was a garden and in the garden, a new tomb
in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore, because of the
Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid
Jesus there. There are a number of prophecies
that had received their fulfillments in Christ’s sufferings, others
in the betrayal that he experienced, others in the treatment, the
harsh treatment that he underwent, the agony that he experienced
in his death. But this crucifixion on the cross
was the greatest of them all, and now he is dead and buried. One pastor characterized this
scene in these terms. The people of Jerusalem and the
person of the rulers showed their ignorance of the true meaning
of prophetic scripture and consequently failed to recognize Jesus, the
deliverer, to whom it pointed. Instead, they passed adverse
judgment on him, unwittingly fulfilled the prophecies which
foretold how he must suffer and die. In spite of his innocence,
they asked Pilate to sentence him to death and the sentence
was carried out by crucifixion. And when it was all over, all
the prophecies of his passion had been fulfilled. His body
was taken down and buried. The explicit mention of the tomb
in which he was laid, no doubt intended to underscore the reality
of his death and therefore also the reality of his resurrection. Because in the very next verse,
Paul declares it for all to hear. But God raised him. And this
was a foreign concept, obviously. Not just rare, but unheard of
to the Jews. That they took him down, laid
him in the cross, but God raised him from the dead. And there
are many, even in our own day, even to this day, in some Christian
circles, even that would say that the resurrection and what’s
the big deal? Let’s not quibble about it, that it’s one of these
things that we can kind of let loose of and, you know, not die
on that particular hill. I don’t believe that’s the case,
one. Pastor said it this way. We cannot deny the physical resurrection
of Christ without impugning the veracity of the writers of Scripture. When you have all of the New
Testament declaring that Christ was raised in fulfillment of
the Old Testament Scriptures, which declared the same. To throw
out the resurrection means you might as well get rid of your
Bible in its entirety. He goes on and says, this means
that it affects our belief in the trustworthiness of Scripture.
Moreover, the resurrection of Christ is
represented as having evidential value. It was the culminating
proof that Christ was a teacher sent from God. This is God’s
stamp of approval on the price paid for our sin. paid in full,
accepted as offered. He goes on and says that he was
the very son of God. It was supreme attestation of
the fact of immortality and what is still more important, the
resurrection enters a constitutive element into the very essence
of the work of redemption. In other words, this price paid
and marked as accepted. is the atonement for our sin. That is the payment. When God
raised Him from the dead, it was the ready acceptance of the
price that Christ paid for us. Even though these men, almost
fools in their blindness, they rejected and ultimately crucified
Christ God wasn’t about to be defeated. The resurrection is
proof that God would not be defeated. It’s proof of the power of God.
The resurrection is proof that God hasn’t lost his grip, that
God didn’t lose sight of what was going on down there and that
Christ accidentally was crucified. God hadn’t lost control for one
moment. This was all part of the predetermined
plan of God. One said it this way, this was
proof that God had now fulfilled the promise to Abraham and David
that of their seed, one should come in whom all the nations
of the earth should be blessed, even as Paul says as we go on. It couldn’t be justified by Moses
as Paul concludes here. So, if they were going to be
justified by anything, they must be justified by God Himself. Writing to the Romans, Paul says
it in very similar terms. At the opening of that great
epistle, Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an
apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand
through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Do you hear an echo
here? It’s the same message. promised beforehand through His
prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born
of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared
the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead
according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God reversed. He obliterated
the judgment of men and He raised Jesus up from the dead. The Old
Testament had predicted the crucifixion of Christ on a cross. Deuteronomy
21, Psalm 22. At a time, said one, when this
particular form of execution was not used and therefore it
is absolutely prophetic. They could not have known that
that is how the Savior would die except by the Spirit. His burial in tomb was also prophesied. And the most astounding thing
of all is that the most often these criminals that were crucified
were usually thrown in heaps into a mass grave, not laid in
a pristine tomb. He was raised. from the dead. God raised him from the dead.
And verse 31 says, For many days he appeared to those who came
up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his
witnesses to the people. What Paul is saying is this is
all historically verified. We’ve all seen it. Scripture
testified of it. Everything fell into place and
was fulfilled just according to how Scripture laid it out.
And now we’ve seen it. We’ve seen it with our eyes over
a period of many days. Actually, Acts 1.3 tells us there
were personal and public witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. And even though we’ve already
touched upon point two, what Paul does is go into much more
depth in this second perspective. Not only was the resurrection
of Jesus Christ historically verified, secondly, it was prophetically
fulfilled. As I said, we saw several instances
of that already when all that they did to Christ was already
spoken of. But look at verse 32. We preach
to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers. In those
Hebrew Scriptures, there were all of those prophecies and all
of those promises of God that were made directly to a people
at that point in time. But what Paul does here, by God’s
Spirit, is absolutely amazing. Look at verse 33. That God has
fulfilled this promise to our children. The promises were originally
made to the fathers. But God has not only fulfilled
it to them, but from not only to us, but to our children. And
you get a sense of perpetualness from that statement in that he
raised up Jesus. God said it’s finished. It’s
over and it’s done with. And he quotes Scripture here.
We preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers
that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised
Jesus, just as it’s also written in the second Psalm. You are
my son. Today, I have begotten you. That’s
a difficult verse. Because David said it and most
people take it to be about David. This little word here, though,
that it was fulfilled Verse 33, God has fulfilled His promise.
It in no way even approaches the strength, the actual strength
of that verb. That in essence, because of the
resurrection, which takes into account not only Christ’s ascension
into heaven, but also His exaltation, being seated at the right hand
of God. This was absolutely the finishing act As God would declare
it in the fulfillment of the promise relating to the Messiah.
This was it. There wasn’t anything else left to come. One pastor described it in these
terms, he said, the good news is about the promise and the
precise message, which is the cause for gladness contained
in the announcement that the promise has been fulfilled. And the strength and form of
the verb marks the completeness of this fulfillment. The promise
was made to Abraham and generation after generation was born and
passed away, having received the promises only by faith. This
is exactly Paul’s point in view. The promises were made to your
fathers and they held them by faith. They never actually got
to enjoy the fruit of those things. And how much more when Paul says
it has been super fulfilled. promise was made to Abraham generation
after generation was born and passed away. But even the generation
contemporary with Jesus was not born to the complete fulfillment. But now, after Christ’s resurrection,
Christians can say for our children, the promises are utterly fulfilled. We might even say in our own
modern vernacular, they were totally fulfilled. Absolutely
and completely. There’s nothing left to be done
in God’s plan of redemption. Nothing left. The resurrection
was the capstone of it all. Jesus was the Savior that the
prophets had foretold. Paul goes on to talk about John
the Baptist and how he had testified to Jesus coming. He explained
that the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders had actually
fulfilled those ancient prophecies. But the crowning proof that Jesus
was who he said he was, was the resurrection, was the resurrection
This quote here of Psalm 27, Today I have begotten you. Paul
points it and says interpret it specifically of Christ’s resurrection. That’s the context. It was the
resurrection which definitively and fully declared Christ to
be God’s son. It was basically the stamp of
approval by God himself. Yep. This is my son. In whom
I am well pleased. The resurrection, people, is
the fulfillment of promises and prophecy that were made to David,
which were obviously not fulfilled in him. They were ultimately
fulfilled in Christ. After centuries, long centuries
of earnest expectation God, who had once raised up providentially
David to be their king, had now raised up Christ liberally from
the dead. Look at verse 34. As for the
fact that he raised him up from the dead no longer to return
to decay, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy
and sure blessings of David. And Paul immediately here connects
the holy of Isaiah 53, 3, pardon me, 55, 3 with the holy of Psalm
16, 10, where God said he will not give his holy one to see
corruption. These are the holy and sure blessings
of David. This is what David was promised. And this is how it’s being fulfilled.
Your holy one will not undergo decay. Well, there’s a problem
there. And Peter came to the same conclusion
and said it could not possibly. It’s absolutely impossible that
this is fulfilled in David. Because David died and David
was buried and David underwent corruption in the grave, but
not Christ. Think back with me in your mind’s
eye. I’m only going to read a few verses of Acts chapter two. This
is Peter’s same argument. same argument, perhaps even to
some of the same Jews, to Jews nonetheless, perhaps even those
that had crucified Christ. He said this, Brethren, I may
confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both
died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. And so,
because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him
with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he
looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that
he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay. This Jesus, God raised up again,
to which we are all witnesses. And you get the sense that Paul
may have been in the audience. Because he’s basically echoing
the same thoughts that Peter is addressing here. We are all witnesses. Therefore,
having been exalted to the right hand of God, having received
from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured
forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David
who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, the Lord said
to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool
for your feet.” He wasn’t talking about David. And they had to
acknowledge that. He was giving them proof that
who is in view here is not David, but Christ. It was fulfilled
in the Scriptures. That’s the testimony of prophecy.
Paul follows Peter almost exactly here in declaring that David
couldn’t possibly have been the one referred to in Psalm 16.
But had to have been foretold that one of his descendants would
never see corruption. That’s what’s in view. David
died, Christ did not. Look at verse 36, if you would.
For David, this is his third argument in this strain of arguments. For David, after he had served
the purposes of God in his own generation, David had a limited
opportunity. I love the way the Puritans used
to speak of a Christian’s lifetime. They called it gospel opportunity.
You have this narrow window is kind of interesting this past
week. I’m not out of time yet, so I can tell it. Maybe I can’t tell it, I’ll tell
it anyway. ended up in a lot of really neat
and providential conversations, but one of which was just a customer
that I met in the aisle this week who happened to be a Christian
whom God has told to go start a school. So we entered into
a brief discussion and I had opportunity to share with him
my story about Doris. You guys remember the story about
Doris came in one day. She was a customer of mine and
went in. She had a headache. She was out for the day, came
back two weeks later. She still was out with a headache,
then ended up getting a brain scan tumor. Ultimately, the tumor
takes her. But the The rest of the story,
as Paul Harvey would tell you, is that Doris, every time I ever
met her, enthusiastic Christian. Oh, the Lord’s called me to teach
Sunday school. The Lord’s called me to teach Sunday school. Well,
I have the opportunity to give this man my Doris story. If God
has told you to start a school, what are you doing talking to
me about it? We have a very narrow window of gospel opportunity.
We have a few years, 70, maybe 80, the Psalms say. And that’s
exactly what Paul says here of David. He served the purposes
of God in his own generation and that was that. He fell asleep
and he isn’t talking about a nap. And he was laid among his fathers
and he underwent decay, but he whom God raised did not undergo
decay. That same argument used by Peter
at Pentecost is in essence repeated here by the Apostle Paul David
was died and buried, underwent bodily decomposition. But the one who was not permitted
to see corruption was Christ, the one whom God raised from
the dead and demonstrated to all that he is the Messiah. David’s work. David’s services
would benefit only those that he touched in his lifetime. Perhaps
some legacy, perhaps some heritage of some kind would carry on for
a few more years. Certainly, his Psalms carry on.
But Christ and His resurrection, never more to die, never to see
corruption, is a Savior for all generations. And remission of
sins through him can be promised to everyone who believes, which
brings us to point three. You see from this passage, three
views, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, historically verified,
prophetically fulfilled, but thirdly, beneficially offered. Look at verse 36. It’s absolutely
stunning. Therefore, and you get the so
often the pleading sense of the Apostle Paul with his countrymen.
Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him
the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.” This resurrection is
a proclamation of an offer made. Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed
to you. And through Him, everyone who
believes is freed from all things. from which you could not be freed
through the law of Moses. There’s no set of laws. There’s
no set of rules that you could live by your own strength and
power unto that would ever save you. Nothing you ever do in your
life could save you, no matter how good your life, no matter
how much money you give away. But the resurrection of Christ
constituted, said one, a declaration of the Father that the last enemy,
that is, death, had been vanquished, the penalty had been paid, the
condition on which life was promised was met. It symbolized what was
destined to happen in the members of Christ’s body in their justification,
that is, their own resurrection. Paul here proclaims that the
forgiveness which Christ has secured isn’t partial. It’s not
like he’ll take care of the really bad ones and you take care of
the rest. It’s everything. Everything you ever did, everything
that you’ve ever thought is encompassed in these things. Forgiveness
of sins is proclaimed to you. I mean, no wonder. I mean, no
wonder the richest of all of our hymns are sung at Easter. And why we only sing them once
a year, I’ll never know. But Christ the Lord is risen
today. Alleluia. The Apostle Paul here proclaims
that forgiveness, that Christ is secured, isn’t partial. It
extends to all the sins of the transgressor. And that all men
need it since no other way of pardon remains for those condemned
by the law. The law has shut up all under
sin. All have sinned and all are desperately
in need of a Savior. Since Christ and faith in Christ
is the only condition connected to it, this salvation is free
for all. It’s an absolutely wide open
declaration. Let it be known to you, brethren,
that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you
and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things. Jesus is that great source of
forgiveness. And only at the very end comes
this note of solemnity. Paul didn’t want this moment
to drop. Paul didn’t want any one of these
people to miss their grand opportunity to close with the Savior, to
sign the contract as it were, to really lay aside their sins
and repent of them and to be made secure in Christ and to
gain that forgiveness offered only through Him. And he closes
with this very solemn note. Therefore, take heed. You better
beware. You better be more careful with
this moment than with any moment you’ve ever faced in your life, so that the things spoken of
in the prophets may not come upon you. And he quotes Habakkuk
1.5 here. Behold, you scoffers, and marvel
and perish. While you’re sitting here matching
wits and criticizing Scripture and nitpicking at the lives of
Christians who try to share Christ with you and all that they do
and say. You’re about to perish. For I am accomplishing a work
in your days, a work which you would never believe, even though
someone should describe it to you. There was a A very poignant note of solemnity
at the end there, wasn’t there? But if you take a step back,
you notice that Paul is pleading with his countrymen, the Jews. He’s pleading with them to consider
Christ. He’s pleading with them to realize
that the resurrection was God’s stamp of approval and the full
and final proof. There would be nothing more glorious
to Paul at all. than to celebrate with them in
eternity. That’s what Paul wanted. Paul
didn’t want to rebuke them. Paul didn’t want to brush them
off and browbeat them. Paul didn’t want to shake the
dust off his feet, which he eventually would do. Paul wanted them to enjoy what
we have the opportunity to enjoy one day, and that is heaven forever
with Christ. Isaac Watts, who I cannot wait
to embrace in eternity, said it this way. How divinely full
of glory and pleasure shall that hour be when all the millions
of mankind that have ever been redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb of God shall meet together and stand around Him and with
every tongue and every heart full of joy and praise. How astonishing
will be the glory and joy of that day when all the saints
shall join together in one common song of gratitude and love. and of everlasting thankfulness
to the Redeemer. With that unknown delight and
inexpressible satisfaction, shall all that are saved from the sins
of ruin and hell address the Lamb that was slain and rejoice
in His presence. Christ the Lord is risen. Let’s
pray. Our merciful God, We did not deserve so great a
gift. But in looking down through the
countless years of human history, you effected through Christ your
plan of redemption. You sent Christ to die to take
upon Him what was ours, our sin. You gave to us Through this acceptance
of the sacrifice, you gave to us what was His in our justification,
the freedom to stand before a holy God with no condemnation. Lord, we
do rejoice. Grant us the joy and the grace
to rejoice the whole day through for what Christ has done for
us. We thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen.