Paul's Sermon on the Sabbath

Lord, even as we sang, here we are, gathered together as a family. We're bound as one. Father, I pray that even now, that your Holy Spirit would take that bond of unity that is between us and strengthen it. Lord, I just thank you for this family. And Lord, I just feel that these are the true family, spiritual family, the ties are much deeper and stronger. And Father, we pray this morning as we open your word, that you would cause every word to be fitly spoken and every ear to be open and attentive. Father, we pray for those of us who know you, and those in this room who don't know you. Lord, that you just draw them to yourself. In Jesus', name we pray, Amen.

In verse 38, Paul is concluding a sermon that he preached in Antioch of Pisidia. 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 the things 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 a work of work in your days. A work which you will by no means believe though one were to declare it to you.

Now, I've always loved sermons of great men. And one of the things I like to do from time to time is pick up a book of famous sermons and go over them and just see how God effected different generations with different spokesmen. They always inspire me. That's why this chapter is particularly exciting to me because this is Paul's first recorded sermon. In fact, it's his only recorded sermon in a synagogue in full length. And it's a lot like Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. A lot of the particulars are much like it. I wish I could have listened to Paul the Apostle speak. I think that would have been a really neat experience. Or even if we had tapes from way back then. If they had invented tape recorders then, I think it would've been great just to listen to Paul on tape, join Paul's tape ministry or something. Get him every week.

But I feel so much like I know Paul the Apostle. I've read all of his books. And when you read a certain author for a long time, you feel like you know him. And I feel like I know Paul the Apostle. I'll be looking forward to spending some time with him in heaven. This message in Acts 13 is essentially a message of salvation for the Jewish people. Now, the Jewish people who read the Old Testament, many of them in parts of the world had not heard that the scriptures were fulfilled. And so Paul is in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And he gets up and he gives this sermon recounting the history of Israel, and telling these people about salvation. In it, he mentions three things. First of all, the problem. Second of all, the promise of salvation. And third of all, the penalty for rejecting God's promise.

Salvation was one of Paul's favorite things to talk about, and he never missed an opportunity. Paul said, I have become all things to all men, that if by any means, I might save some. And Paul always had in his heart, wherever he spoke, wherever there was an open door, to share the gospel. And when he shared the gospel, he didn't beat around the bush. He said it like it was, he got right to the point, and he made an appeal. And he gave a warning. There are a lot of pointers that we can get from watching Paul preach, a lot of pointers on sharing our own faith with people. Paul made it very simple when he shared his faith.

You know, a lot of times I think we can complicate the gospel. It is so simple, but sometimes we pass out charts and all sorts of schemes to make people understand it. And so often we bog the issue down. We make it an obstacle course to get saved when it's so simple. This is what God has promised. He'll take care of the problem. This is what we must do. Here's the warning if you don't do it. And Paul made it very simple here. Now, in verse 13, it says, when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

But when they had departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pasidia, 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 synagogues sent to them saying, men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation, for the people, say on. So Paul stood up. And motioning with his hand he said, men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. Now, I love this scene because God gives him a royal setup to share the gospel. And it was always Paul's method to go into a synagogue when he went into a new city and to look for an opportunity to share.

He would go into the synagogue because, throughout the Roman Empire, the Jews were scattered. And wherever they were scattered, they set up the synagogue. And it was always customary for a visiting rabbi to come in, and if he was visiting, the leader of the synagogue would say, is there any visitors here. And Paul would raise his hand. And since Paul had the credentials of sitting at the feet of Gamaliel and being a Pharisee-- he was from Jerusalem, they thought, all right, we've got a distinguished visitor, Saul of Tarsus. If you have any word of encouragement for us, Saul, would you just go for it? He said, all right. And he stood up, and God gave him an open door to preach the gospel.

And you know what, Paul always looked for open doors. Wherever he was, he saw an open door and he shared his faith. Even when he was in prison, he found open doors to share the faith. The word of God was not bound. In fact, when Paul was in prison, he thought, what a good opportunity to share the faith with these guards who are chained to me. They can't get away. You know, you can always share with people and they can run away. But these guards couldn't do it. Could you imagine being chained to Paul the Apostle day and night? And Paul just let him have it.

In fact, in Philippians, he says that throughout all of Caesar's household in the prison, men were turning to the Lord. He had the first prison ministry. And the word of God was getting out and it was a powerful kind of a witness. So Paul always looked for open doors. And you know, I believe that there are open doors all around us. In the supermarkets, when you're getting your hair done, when you're getting gas in your car, God will put open doors before you. You might be in the supermarket someone might say, you know, this world is a mess. I sure wish there was hope for it, as they look at the headlines. And you can overhear that and just say, well, I think there is hope for it. Or someone at the gas station might say something, or be in trouble, and God might just set you up to show the gospel. God always gives us open doors, we must look for them. And Paul looked for the open door. He said, yeah, I've got something to say. And through the rest of the chapter, he gives this beautiful little sermon and then he concludes it.

A friend of mine and I always used to make it our practice to find different meetings in town and attend them like the Baha'i meetings or the transcendental meditation meetings, because at the end of the meetings, it's sort of like this synagogue. They would say, are there any questions? Anyone like to say anything or ask us any question? We'd say, yeah, I've got a question. What do you do to cleanse yourself from sin? And then you go, are there any other questions? And my friend would stand up. He goes, yeah, I've got a question. And so we'd alternate back and forth and we would get to share our faith that way. But we'd always make it a practice to look in the newspapers and find these meetings where the cults would be gathering together to share the faith. This was a method of Paul the Apostle.

Now, he takes them through the history of their nation. He starts with Moses, actually. And he goes from Moses to David and God's promise and God's deliverance. He goes then from David to Jesus Christ, the heir of David. And finally over in verse 30, look at it with me. He says, and we declare unto you glad tidings. That promise, which was made to the fathers, God has fulfilled 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 he that 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 and was buried with his fathers. And he saw corruption. But he whom God raised up, he saw no corruption.

What Paul is doing is this. He is saying Jesus is the fulfillment of the scripture, the one that we've all been waiting for. The one that the prophets have talked about for centuries is here. You don't have to wait any longer. The Messiah is Jesus. And he quotes scriptures and I'm always marveling at the grasp that Paul the Apostle had of the scripture. How he knew it. And this is an important factor in sharing our faith with people, is knowing what the Bible says and where it says it. And somebody will ask you a question. You can say, well it says right over here, and show it to them. It's always important to know the word of God in sharing our testimony to back up what we're saying. And Paul the Apostle knew the scripture. He had a tremendous grasp of the word. You see, the more that you know the word of God, the more that the word of God is in you, the more the Holy Spirit has to work with. Because he's invested so much of his word and you, he'll use you as a vessel to pour it out. And it's important that we do know the scripture.

Now, there was one time a person who applied to a church for church membership. And the church board said, well how well do you know the scripture? And they were interviewing him. And he said, well I know it pretty well. They said, what's your favorite book of the Bible? He said the first book of Parables. The first book of parables, I never heard of such a book. And so they went along with him and said, OK, well just give us an example. Tell us a story from the Bible. Let me read it to you. The candidate stood up and he said, once upon a time, a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among thieves. And the thorns grew up and choked that man. And he went on and he met the Queen of Sheba and she gave that man sir a 1,000 talents of gold and silver and 100 changes of raiment. And he got in his chariot and drove furiously.

And when he was driving along under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging there. And he hung there many days and many nights. And the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And one night, while he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair and he dropped and he fell to the stony ground. And it began to rain. And it rained 40 days and 40 nights. And he hid himself in a cave. And he went out and he met a man that said, come and take supper with me. But he said, I cannot for I have married a wife. And the man went out into the highways and byways and compelled him to come in.

And he went on and he came to Jerusalem, and he saw queen Jezebel sitting up in a window. And when she saw him, she laughed and he said, throw her down. And he said, throw her down out of there again. And they threw her down 70 times 7. And of the fragments they picked up 12 baskets full. Now, whose wife will she be in the day of judgment? That might reflect the average person's knowledge of the Bible. And we won't get a long way in sharing our faith with people if we know just that much. And as you go through this sermon, go through it on your own, notice how Paul was able to pull out of the scriptures direct quotes and fulfillments of Jesus Christ being the Messiah who was prophesied in death and in Resurrection.

Now, he concludes his sermon in verse 38. He applies, it he makes an appeal and a warning. Therefore, because of this, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of your sins. And by him everyone, who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from the law of Moses. First of all, Paul brings out and mentions in his sermon the problem of man. And that's found in verse 38 and 39. He mentions sin and the law from which a person cannot be justified. First of all, sin. Sin is a basic problem. It has always been a basic problem with man from the beginning. Man has always been conscious of his sin. David in Psalm 51 said, my sin is ever before me. Purge me and cleanse me, create in me a clean heart, oh God. You could define sin as anything that is contrary to God. Anything that is contrary to God's character.

Now, this morning, I want to sum this up. It's important that we understand that when we speak of sin, we speak of it in two different ways. First of all, we speak of a sin in the singular and then also in the plural. First of all, sin in the singular is the sin nature that we have inherited from Adam. All of us, from the time of conception, were born with a sinful nature. It's a congenital disease. When you are born into the world, you are born with this sin nature. David said, behold I was shaped in inequity and in sin did my mother conceive me. I came forth from the womb speaking lies. The sin nature is inherent to everyone. Everyone is born in sin because of Adam's transgressions. Romans chapter 5 tells us that by one man's sin, sin entered into the world. And death, through sin, so that death is passed to every man.

So that when a person is born, when a baby is born into the world, from the moment of conception, that person has a sin nature. It's an inherited congenital kind of a thing that is passed on from generations to generations. It's interesting that you never have to teach a child to sin. You never have to teach a child to do wrong. It comes naturally. I think every parent would agree they have to teach their children to do good, to pray, to obey. Those are things you have to instruct. But when it comes to doing wrong and evil, sin comes naturally. And correction must be employed. Sin is a natural part of everyone growing up. And I know if my mother heard this she'd say, Amen. Because I was good at it. In fact, I was an expert when it came to blowing it. Everyone is born with the sin nature. And Paul brings out the problem of sin.

Then also, there is sins, plural. That is personal sins. Now in verse 48 or 38, he says, brethren, through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of your sins. When it comes to sins, I don't want to complicate the matter. But again, there's two kinds, willful sin, and ignorance sin. Ephesians chapter two says, you were dead in trespasses and sins. And there's two words there. The word sins is missing the mark. It's a Greek word Hamartia. It means to miss the mark or the standard that God has said. The word transgression means a willful, deliberate missing of the mark. It's where you willfully deliberately sin against God.

All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Now, the same word Hamartia was used in the ancient times to describe an archery game, where people would get up there with their bows and arrows and they would aim and a target. If they would miss the target or fall short of the target, they were called a sinner. They've missed the mark. But on the other hand, transgressions is willful and deliberate. He says you are dead in trespasses and in sins. In other words, God raised a standard. And so God said, this is my standard that I want you to meet. I want you to meet this standard. My standard is perfection because my character is holy. And every man since has fallen short of the standard that God has set. That sin, transgression is where we willfully break it.

Let's say we were traveling on a boat. We're taking a cruise to Hawaii. Saved up our money and we're taking this big beautiful princess liner all the way from LA to Hawaii. And right off the shore of Oahu, the boat starts to sink. And you can see the shore at a distance, it's quite a ways out there. The boat begins to sink and people dive overboard. Now, there will be some people that will sink automatically because they don't know how to swim. And let's say, we don't have life jackets, but we're all going to swim to the shore and try to make it. Some people will swim further than others. Some will be novices, some will be experts. And let's say, we're swimming out there. And I poop out after just two minutes. And let's say, you go a little further. And let's say someone else who's an expert swimmer goes almost all the way to the shore. But he just doesn't have enough energy to make it. They're all still in the same situation. They've all missed the shore. Some have tried harder, some were better swimmers than others, but all have fallen short of missing the mark. That is sin.

Transgression is different. You see, let's say God draws a line. And he says, don't step over this line. You cross this line, and that's it. And so we come zipping around the corner and we see the line. We put on the brakes, but we slightly go over it. Whoops, that is sin. But let's say, God says, here's a line don't cross it. You say, yeah? What are you going to do about it? That is transgression, willful, deliberate transgression. So the Bible says that we were dead in trespasses and in sins. In other words, we're sinners by nature, but we're also sinners by choice. We have chosen to go away from God. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each has chosen his own way. So the problem is first sin, sin by nature, and also sin by choice. Second of all, in verse 39, he mentions the law. And by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from the law of Moses. Now, why do I call this a problem? Why is the law a problem? Simply because it could not justify.

Now, the law served a purpose. And again, it's important that we understand what the law was all about. The law served a purpose. In fact, the Bible says that the commandment and the law is holy, just, and good. Well then why do you call it a problem, Skip? Simply because it says the law couldn't justify you. And Jesus Christ can justify you from all the things the law could not justify you from. So the law failed because man failed. So the second problem is that of the law. The first purpose that the law served is that it rebukes us. It shows us our failure. God sets up the standard. He says, this is the mark I want mankind to meet. We have fallen short of that. And the law says, look, you have fallen short. You've blown it. The law is like someone pointing a finger and says, you are blowing it. You are a sinner. It rebukes us. It shows us how far short we have fallen from God's standard.

We look at even the Ten Commandments in the law. And we realize how short man has fallen. First of all, the law rebukes us. It shows that we have left God's standard. Turn with me over the Romans chapter 3, verse 19. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law. The purpose, that every mouth may be stopped and that the world may become guilty before God. There is the purpose of the law. Every mouth may be stopped and the world may be guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. In other words, the law is like an X-ray of the heart. It exposes our heart. It reveals our wrong. It shows us God's standard, puts God's X-ray on our heart and says, you have failed to make God's standard.

That was the first purpose of the law. It didn't cleanse us. It simply showed us our wrong. It has been said before that the law is like a mirror. That when you look into the mirror, it reflects or shows the imperfections of the flesh. Just like when we get up every morning, and all of us have mirrors in our bathrooms, and we go in and we check out our mug every morning to see what it looks like. And we count the pimples and we decide to cover them. We see how many hairs are out of place, we decide where the makeup should go. It reveals the imperfections. The law was meant to reveal imperfections of the flesh. Now, I've told you the story before about the savage who is out one time and he found on the ground a mirror, first time he ever saw in his life, and he looked at it. He was so shocked, he broke the mirror. He realized, I'm ugly. He couldn't handle looking at himself. He broke it in disgust.

The law was a mirror that points out the imperfections. And it becomes a problem because we look at the mirror, we look at the law, it does no good except says, you are a sinner. You have failed to meet God's standards. But secondly, the law not only reveals that we're a sinner, but it points us to the solution. That's why the law can be good. You see, the law is like a schoolmaster, Paul says, that leads us to Christ and points the way to Christ. Galatians chapter three says, why or wherefore serves the law? What good is it? It was added because of transgressions, because of sin. Therefore, he says, the law was a tutor or a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. And the word that Paul uses in Galatians 3 is the word "pedagogas," or tutor. And Paul described a household slave. A tutor was someone who wasn't the teacher in the school, but simply would lead the child to the schoolhouse and say, there's your teacher, go sit under his authority.

The purpose of the schoolmaster, or the tutor, was he was in charge of the moral development of the child until the child became a man. And so, he would lead him to the teacher at school. The law shows us Christ. It says one, you're blowing it. Number two, there's a solution. You need Christ. I'm the schoolmaster, go to the real teacher, go to the real master who can justify you from these things. So number one, the problem is sin, sin because of the sin nature, and sin by choice. Number two, the law. We look into it, and it shows us our imperfections. It's like a mirror. It reveals the flaws, but it also points us to Christ. Now, he mentions the promise of God, verse 38. Therefore, let it be known to you, or as the Amplified says, I want you to clearly understand what I'm saying, that through this man, Jesus whom he spoke about, is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And second of all, and by him everyone who believes, is justified from all things which you could not be justified from the law of Moses.

Now comes the promise, God's rescue operation. God is never without a plan. In fact, it may surprise you, but that before God created Adam, God knew that Adam would sin. Before God created man and gave him a choice, God knew that man would choose to go his own way and would rebel against God and would sin. And it was a part of God's plan, the Bible says, from the beginning to send Jesus Christ his son before the foundations of the world were ever laid. And so the scripture says in Romans, that God placed all mankind under sin because of Adam so that he could justify all men by Jesus Christ. It was part of God's plan. The promise, forgiveness of sins, and justification. There are four ways that men try to rid themselves of sin.

There's four ways to get rid of sin. Number one, to deny it. Ah, sin doesn't exist. It's a fig Newton of your imagination. It's a figment. Does no good, it just doesn't exist. The second way people try to rid themselves of sin is they decide to quit. That's the way of the world. I'm just going to make a New Year's resolution, I'm never going to do that again. I promise, cross my heart. And they fail. The third way is the way of religion. They try to work it out or to burn it off. You know, I can go to purgatory for a few years and I can just burn off my sins. Or while I'm on the earth, I can just work so hard that I'll be righteous before God I'll rid myself of sin. Or the fourth way you can turn to, and that is, forgiveness of sins granted to you freely, and justification by the blood of Jesus Christ. Those are the four ways. And man falls into one of those categories in trying to rid himself of sin. Forgiveness of sin is what Paul stands up in the synagogue that day and preaches to them. By this man is granted or preached to you the forgiveness of your sins.

This is something man has longed for from the beginning. Man has always been conscious of being a sinner. And he has always longed for forgiveness. In the Old Testament, they would bring sacrifices to God. They would bring a lamb and they would come to the priest and they said, here's my lamb. Here's my offering. Kill this lamb in my place. Shed its blood for me. And they would lay their hands on this little animal and confess their sins out loud and the priest would take a knife and butcher the poor little lamb as a substitute for the sins of the bear. They would place their hands on a scapegoat also. And the scapegoat would be let out into the wilderness to be seen no more, symbolic of carrying away transgressions. Now, when Paul spoke these words in the synagogue, the hearers were people who were used to going to the temple and bringing their sacrifices and trusting in those things to cover. Paul says, I'm bringing you good news. Jesus Christ can forgive you totally of your sins. Which means, absolve you or remit, or bear away your sins. You see, the Old Testament sacrifices could never take away sin. They could only cover sin.

Let's say you go out into the desert here and you see a hole. You put a piece of wood over it. You put dirt around it. You put it a weed on top of it so it looks like the rest of the terrain. There's still a hole there, you've only covered it up. From the outside, you can't see it. But there is still a defect. The Old Testament sacrifices covered sin until Christ came who could take away sins. Now Jesus Christ can forgive or take away sins totally. So unto you is preach brethren. Let it be known to you that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of your sins. You see, you are not acceptable to God. You stand before God. God has no reason at all to accept you. There is nothing you can do or merit for God to accept you. There is nothing worthwhile in you by yourself that would make God grant you heaven. Think of one good reason why you should enter heaven for eternity in your own merit and your own strength. You can't come up with a good reason. Even if you do, God won't accept it. For the Bible says that our own righteousness is as what? Filthy rags before God. Filthy rags before God.

It's like the story of the woman who went and she did her laundry in the snow. And she wanted to make her laundry brilliant in white. And she used all the additives and detergent. And her laundry came out sparkling white and she said, this is great. She was running home and she fell and the laundry fell in the snow. And next to the pure white snow, her brilliant laundry now looked yellow because the snow is so pure and so white. Oh she thought it looked so good. But next to pure absolute whiteness, purity, it was dirty looking. Our righteousness, the Bible says, is as filthy rags before the Lord. Nothing at all is acceptable to God until God forgives us freely of our sins through Jesus Christ.

And then he says in verse 39, and by him, everyone who believes is justified from all the things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. You see, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a man from sin. And Paul stood up in the synagogue and spoke to the Jews who were used to offering the blood of animals and saying, God will freely give you forgiveness. The word forgiveness is actually a legal kind of a term, a courtroom kind of a term. It's like, I go into a courtroom. I'm trembling. I know that I've blown it. I know that the death sentence should be passed. And up there, behind the counter, is the judge with his big gavel, God the Father. And the prosecuting attorney comes up, Satan, says, judge this man. Skip is guilty of this, this, this, he's a real creep. And I have only flimsy excuses, I know I have no good defense. And the Father says, are these things the truth, Skip? I hang my head in shame, yep, they're true.

And just as the Father is about to put down the gavel and say, guilty, the death sentence enacted. My defense attorney steps up, Jesus, has a big smile of confidence on his face, leans over the bench. He says, hey dad, I know this guy really has blown it. And he deserves to die. But the death penalty has already been paid for him. Here's the certificate, paid in full. The sentence has already been meted out. I was the one who stood in his place. The Father says good enough, not guilty. And I go scot free because of the blood of Jesus Christ, absolute forgiveness.

Now those four ways of ridding the world from sin, denying it, trying to quit, working or burning it off, or forgiveness of sins, I'll take the last one. God will freely forgive a man from his sins, paid in full. Now, it's offered to everyone, but it's not guaranteed to everyone. Notice, it says in verse 38, it is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. Verse 39, and by him everyone who believes is justified. Notice that this is offered to everyone not guaranteed to everyone. It's simply preached or proclaimed to you, he says. God doesn't forgive everyone. God doesn't guarantee salvation for everyone except those who come to him by faith and believe and accept the offer that is preached unto them. But you need it. We need the forgiveness of sins. We need to be cleansed and have the judge say, not guilty. Because we cannot, in our own strength, cleanse ourselves from our sins or be justified.

And it's ridiculous to see how many religious systems tried to do this, thinking that they can work their way to heaven by their good little works and their charitable deeds. Not that those things are wrong, they are good. But you don't get saved that way. To tell a person to work for their salvation is as stupid as telling a load of laundry to wash itself and fold itself. Wouldn't that be nice if we could do that? Would you just jump in the washer, I've gotta go. Wash yourself, and as soon as you're done, dry yourself, fold yourself up, and walk to my bedroom. Put yourself away. You cannot cleanse yourself from your sins. You haven't the power to do it. But to you is preached the forgiveness of sins. And second of all, he says, and everyone who believes, trust in and relies, on clings to him, is justified from all the things which you could not be justified from the law of Moses.

The word justified means to declare to be innocent or pure. God declares us to be righteous or pure or innocent. That doesn't mean we are righteous. It doesn't mean we are innocent. It doesn't mean we are pure. But God declares us to be pure. He imputes unto us his righteousness, Romans chapter 5. That is what justification means. God declares you to be pure. The best definition I've ever heard is, you break up the word justified. Just if I'd never sinned. You stand before God just as though you'd never sinned. Just if I'd never sinned. Justified, God declares you to be innocent or to be righteous. Now, there is a difference between forgiveness and justification. You go, well it's the same thing. No it's not. Let's say you're driving down the street and you get a ticket. And you go to the courtroom, you pay your $20 fine. And in another week, you're driving down the street, get pulled over again, you get a ticket. You go down, you pay for it.

You have been forgiven of your debt because you've paid it. You paid the money for breaking the law. But it's still on the books. It's still on the record. And you can ask your insurance company, they'll tell you. You may be forgiven of your crime, but you're not justified from your crime. That is, it's still on the record. It's still on the books. Richard Nixon has been forgiven of Watergate. But I'm sure he wishes there was never a tape around to confirm it. It's still on the record. It's still on the books. In justifying us, God erases the tape. God tears up the record. There isn't a record anymore as far as God is concerned. It's off the books. That's what justification is. He's not only forgiving us, he's not only paid the tickets, and mark them forgiven, not guilty. He's taken the tickets and ripped them up. That's justification. It's preached unto you, everyone who believes being justified from all the things that you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

So forgiveness gives you a clean state before God. Justification gives you a clean slate before God. Forgiveness takes away the guilt of sin, justification takes away the stain of sin. It's not on the records anymore. Now this is something we read in this verse that the law of Moses could never do. The law of Moses did what? Condemned us, pointed the finger. Said, you're guilty, you're blowing it, you need a Savior, pointed out your flaws. It was an X-ray of the heart. The law could never cleanse you. The law was like a mirror. You look in a mirror and what does it tell you? It says, you better get help. You need some work. But can you imagine trying to use a mirror to then do the work? Let's say, you look in the mirror you've been working all day and you've got dirt all over your face. Would you take the mirror off the wall and begin to wash yourself with the mirror? It would be ridiculous. It has no power to clean you. The law can show you your deficiencies, but it has no power to take them away or to take it off the record. The law is powerless. It shows you the standard, but it doesn't help you to meet God's standard.

Jesus Christ will forgive your debt and then take it off the books. That's forgiveness and justification. Do this and live, the law commands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. A better word the gospel brings, it bids me fly, and then it gives me wings. That's the difference between the law and Jesus Christ. And the Jews who heard it that day, who were used to trusting in themselves or trusting in the sacrifices of animals, were probably blown away when Paul said this. Under you, is preached forgiveness of sins, and you can be justified from all the things that you never could be from the law of Moses. Now, finally, he gives them the penalty of rejecting the promise. 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.

He is quoting out of the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament. The book of Habakkuk is an interesting kind of a little book. Habakkuk was commissioned by God to announce judgment unto Judah because of the sins of Judah. But one day, Habakkuk was perplexed. And he came before God and had a question. He said, God, how can you allow the sin of your people Israel to continue? When are you going to stop it? When are you going to do something about it? The people and the nation is turning from you. I don't understand. And God's response to Habakkuk was this verse, behold, marvel and perish, I will work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe though one were to declare it to you. The rest of the verses go, for behold I am sending the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, to come to wipe all of you guys out. I've got a plan. I'm not going to allow this to continue. But I'm going to use a bitter, hasty nation to judge the people.

And so the message of Habakkuk to the people was one of the certainty of God's judgment because they had rejected his love. And so what Paul is saying in borrowing this verse, is God will take care of your problem of sin and of the law by forgiving you and by justifying you. But if you reject, there is the certainty of God's judgment upon you, even as there was certainty of God's judgment upon the nation of Israel for their sins. You see, God has paid for your sins. God has given you an out. But, if you don't accept it, then God will hold you accountable for your own sins. And so he's telling them of the certainty of judgment upon them. You know, perhaps Paul was preaching this sermon, and you saw anger on their faces as he was speaking about Jesus Christ being the fulfilled messiah, being the one who could forgive them of their sins and justify them. Some of the rabbis perhaps were angry because as you read the rest of the chapter, they were bitter against Paul. And as Paul maybe saw this, he said, now I'm giving you a warning. God has given you his promises. God will give you eternal life. But if you reject him, then as Habakkuk said, there is the certainty of God's judgment.

You see, there's always two sides of the coin when it comes to the gospel. And this is the side of the coin that people do not like to hear. They want to hear that God loves them, which he does. God will forgive them, which he will. That God will justify them, which he will. But they do want to hear that God will judge them, or damn them, if they reject. Oh, they don't want to hear that. But you see, as much as the love of God is a theme through scripture, the wrath of God is also a theme through scripture. God said in Isaiah, come let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as well. Though they'd be like crimson, I will make them like snow. But then he gave them a warning. He said, if you are willing and obedient, you will eat of the good of the land. That's good news. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be cut off by the sword. That's bad news.

As much as the same message is good news for some, it's bad news for others depending on what you do with it. The sin of rejection, the penalty of rejecting God's goodness-- let me give it to you very plainly. If you accept Jesus Christ to bear away your sins, you will have abundant life, eternal life in heaven with Jesus, forever. You'll be acquitted totally. If you reject Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will burn in hell forever. Oh don't say it like that. Can't you put it in other words? I don't like hell fire and brimstone. That's just the truth. There's two sides of the same coin. Heads or tails, which way you take it. That's the gospel very plain. It can be good news or it can be bad news. You see, the reason is, when God gave his son, he gave his very best. God could give no more. His most prized was his son, Jesus Christ. So for a person to reject Jesus to bear away their sins, they are rejecting God's best, highest gift. And so Paul says there is the certainty of judgment.

There was a kid who was walking through a street in New York City. He was aimlessly walking around. He wasn't seeing where he was going and he started walking out into the street. He didn't see a Mack truck coming. A man saw what was happening, he quickly ran into the street and pulled the young kid out and saved him. The young kid said oh, thank you so much. You saved my life. I didn't know what I was doing, I'm new to this city. Two weeks later, kid was arrested on the streets for some crime. He was taken before the judge and the judge was the same man who saved his life two weeks prior. The judge looked at him and said, son, are these things so? He goes, yes. He says, guilty, you've got to go to jail. And that little kid looked at him and he said, I know you, don't I? The judge said, perhaps. The kid said, wait a minute, weren't you the man who pulled me out of traffic just two weeks ago? You saved me, then. If you helped me then, can't you help me today?

The judge said, I'm sorry young man. Two weeks ago, I was your Savior. Today, I'm your judge. And God wants to be our Savior. If we reject, he is forced, then, to become our judge. So we have the problem, sin, and the law. The promises, forgiveness, and justification, the penalty, certainty of judgment, even as it was in Habakkuk's day. But those who accepted it in verse 48, now the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. And they glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life, believed. Verse 52, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. There was joy, and this is the result, always, of a relationship with God, great joy in singing. You know what, I have noticed something and traveling. Of all the religions, in the world Christianity only has the kind of singing and praise that it does. There is never singing in a Muslim mosque. There is not singing in a Hindu temple. There is not joy and singing in a Shinto shrine. But there's always singing when God's people come together, for they're filled with joy of their salvation. They always have something to sing about and great joy to sing about. For Jesus Christ has taken and taken away the curse of the law and forgiven them of their sins. And that's joy for that person.

Let's pray. Father, this morning, we realize, from your word, as Paul said, that there was the problem of sin. We've all fallen short of your glory. We've all gone our own way. There was the problem of the law pointing its finger at us, telling us that we have failed. But then you came along and offered forgiveness. Not guilty, you proclaimed. And you've given us justification, taking everything off the books, off the record. And Father, we sing to you, it's good to proclaim that. Father, I pray today that if people don't know you, that Lord, they would turn to you in Jesus' name.