Thank you, Majesty. Wonderful ministry to us this morning. Children's Church, if you are a part of Children's Church, you can be dismissed now. A little different from the way we normally do it. And there they go. That's why we normally have you singing during their departure. You don't hear all that. I invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. This morning, we have been singing about the gospel, seems like each and every song talked about God's great grace toward us and the things that we have believed and we were at the church singing together and affirming Those great doctrines that really are fundamental and foundational to the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. Well, as we sang about the gospel this morning, we're going to hear about the gospel in Acts, chapter 13, as Paul continues his message in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. And he'll conclude that message today, and that's what we'll be looking at just to recap a little bit. bringing up to speed where we've been. In Acts, chapter 13, Paul and Barnabas, along with John Mark, have departed the city of Antioch, which sent them out. On their first missionary journey and from Antioch, they left and headed west. Over to the coast and sailed to the island of Cyprus, where they preach the gospel and taught many there. from Cyprus, which was Barnabas's birthplace. They departed and they sailed northwest to the coastal city of Perga, and then they went on to the inland city to the north called Pisidian Antioch. And remember, there's two Antiochs here. They're not the same. Antioch is the place where they started and which sent them out, which had a a church functioning church, a thriving church in Antioch. From there, they went through Cyprus on up north into Pisidian Antioch, which is a different place entirely. If you'd like, it would be helpful for you. You can flip back at any time to the maps in the back of your Bible. Most of you probably have maps back there. And one of the maps probably deals with Paul's missionary journeys. And you can look at his first missionary journey and you can track this whole saying there in your Bible that would be helpful to you. So here they are in Pisidian Antioch. And while they're there, Paul and Barnabas attended synagogue. And while they're in the synagogue on the Sabbath, one of the synagogue authorities that recognizes Paul and Barnabas and probably recognized Paul as a Pharisee was probably dressed in the traditional dress of a Pharisee, recognizing him as being a person of import, says, Brother, do you have any word to share with us? Any word of exhortation that would be beneficial, beneficial to this group of gathered worshipers? So in verse 16, Paul says, Yes, indeed, I do. Says in verse 16 of Acts 13, Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. Did Paul have a word of exhortation to the congregation? He absolutely did. And it was all about Jesus Christ. The promise made to the fathers, to Abraham, that indeed one would come who would be a blessing to all nations, the promise made to others throughout time of this Messiah who would come. And he preaches about how Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy. How there was a forerunner that was foretold and came in the form of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Lord and for his message, make ready the kingdom of God. And how Jesus was the fulfillment of all those Messianic prophecies that indeed, that those fingerprints that are throughout the Old Testament that pointed toward Jesus were indeed fulfilled in Jesus as the Messiah. And now Paul comes to the conclusion of his message here in verse 38 of chapter 13. And here in the conclusion of his message, he presents Jesus as the justifier of sinners. as he presents Jesus as the one who did what the law of Moses could never do. Jesus, the one who can forgive our sins and make us stand faultless before God. Let's read together, then, in Acts chapter 13, Beginning in verse 38, you read along silently there in your seat. Acts 13 and verse 38, Paul comes to the conclusion of his message. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through him, Jesus, 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 things 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 Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath. Now, when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God. And may God bless the reading of his word. Our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that you in your work, in your coming, in your life, in your death, in your resurrection, have provided for us something the law of Moses never could and never was intended to. And that is you provide for us full forgiveness of our sins, and they are many. You provide for us A justified standing before God. We stand faultless before God's throne. As he declares us righteous in his sight. We thank you for these tremendous blessings of salvation. This is the best news anyone can ever know. Lord, may we value it as such. May we declare it as such. May we share it with others as such the greatest news anyone can ever know. Our sins can be forgiven. Our eternal destiny can be secure. And we can receive eternal life in your name. Lord, reaffirm these things to us, teach them to us. What a tray this morning, if there's anyone here. who has yet to bow themselves in submission to your lordship, they would do so this morning and they would know the blessing of this forgiveness, the blessing of this justification. The blessedness of eternal life in your name, we pray. Amen. So as Paul concludes his message to these Jews and God fearers in the synagogue on the Sabbath. We're going to see how he shares with us that there are only two options available to mankind when it comes to our eternal destination. And there are only two options available to mankind when it comes to what we do with Jesus Christ. And the fact is, those two things are related. The two options with regard to our eternal destination are absolutely dependent upon and fixed upon the two options with regard to what we do with Jesus Christ. So let's look at these two possibilities that Paul presents. In terms of the eternal destiny of mankind, more in depth here, first of all, Paul says. That if you accept Jesus, you receive blessing. Accept Jesus and receive blessing. Remember, Paul is bringing his message to a close here, he's driving it to a point, he's bringing it to a purpose and to a conclusion, and he's calling these people who are listening to him to act. To act upon the knowledge he's just shared with him. The knowledge that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To act on the fact that Jesus is indeed the fulfiller of all the prophecies regarding Messiah. He came and he filled them all to a tee. So he's calling them to response. And so he describes the blessings of those who are found in Christ. And the first blessing, he describes the blessing of the forgiveness of sins. Paul says in verse 38, therefore, based on all that I've said up to now, therefore, let it be known to you, brethren. Let it be known to you. Take this in, brothers and sisters. Don't tune me out now. I've been preaching for some time, Paul says. But now listen to what I have to say. Make sure you understand. And what is it that Paul wants to make sure they know and understand? It is the saving truth that through him, that is through Jesus, By the context, we know that the previous verse talks about God raising him from the dead through Jesus. Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Forgiveness of sins comes by means of Jesus. Now, there's a couple of important things we've got to understand, we've got to know and affirm if we're going to get the most out of this, what Paul is trying to say here. First of all, we need to rightly understand what sin is. Certainly, these. Folks. Having been raised Jewish. Knowing the Old Testament as they did, they knew what sin was, but sometimes it gets a little fuzzy in our own day and age. We talk about mistakes and errors and. Blowing it and things like that, but what is sin? Well, the word that Paul used here for sin is hamartia, and it's the most commonly used word in the New Testament for sin. And it means to miss the mark, most of you have probably heard that before. To establish a target or an ideal And then to miss that ideal or to miss the target, to miss the mark, to go astray. To veer off course. And so sin, with that understanding, is anything we do that misses God's perfect mark of holiness. God is holy. He is the standard. He has established himself as the target. as the pattern after which we are to follow. And whenever we miss God's mark, God's pattern, God's standard, that is holiness, we sin. We go astray from God's commands. And so to sin is to go astray from God's clear directives. So when God tells us not to do something, we say, No, I think I will. When God tells us to do something, we say, no way, I'm not doing that. Think about it, the Ten Commandments. A basic presentation of God's will, God's expressed will and a basic expression of God's character and what he desires to be reflected in its creation. Don't commit murder. And yet, Jesus says. If we get angry with someone, we've committed murder in our hearts already. Don't commit adultery. And yet, Jesus says. If we look at a woman to lust after her, we've committed adultery with her in our heart. So it's not just acts. It's not just external. It's what's going on inside. And that, Jesus says, is where sin comes from anyway. It's not that which is outside which defiles someone, but that which comes from within and flows out from the heart. You see, sin is not just an act. Sin is not just an event of rebellion. But rather, it's the manifestation of a condition. And that condition is one which is common to all mankind. We are all born sinners. We are born in sin. We are born with a predisposition to doing what we want the way we want. Not doing what God wants the way he wants. And so our actions simply flow out of our nature. The book of Job describes man this way, says this, that man drinks water or drinks iniquity like water, Job 15, 16. Such is the nature of our makeup. So sinful are we that we drink iniquity like we drink water. We chug it. And we can't get enough of it. That's our sinful condition, that's our sinful state. Brother, the psalmist says, Lord, if you should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? If you kept strict accounts of all of it, Lord, and were to show it to me, I couldn't stand before you. There would be so many. Of course, we know it would only take one. To remove us from the holy presence of God. First Kings 846 states this, there is no one who does not sin. So let's just let's just make it real clear. But let's let's all admit we're all sinners. We're born that way. And from cradle to grave. We exist in a sinful, fallen body. Psalm 143, 143, two states that in God's sight, no man living is righteous. Ecclesiastes 720. Indeed, thank you. Indeed. There is not a righteous man on Earth who continually does good and who never sends. Listen to that again. There is not a righteous man on Earth who continually does good and who never sends. All of us are in the same boat. All of us have sinned. Romans 323 says just that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There's that idea of missing the mark. We've all fallen short of God's glory, of God's perfection, of his holiness, of the standard he himself has established for his special creation, mankind to live by and walk by. Every one of us has fallen short. Isaiah 53, six, not only in the New Testament, in the old, all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. There again, that idea of departing from the path. Each one of us has gone astray. We've turned to our own ways. We want to do it our way. So all of us have sinned and we sin all the time. So what? Well, so that sin has a consequence. God is righteous and he is holy. And he being righteous and holy and being the creator of all things and being the creator of mankind, acts as judge over mankind and have right as judge of mankind. And so the scriptures clearly teach us that God is going to judge sin and that God always judges sin. He never just lets it go, he never lets it slide. He always executes perfect justice, purpose, perfect judgment of sin. Exodus 34, 7, listen to this description of God. And this description of God comes from God himself. He's describing himself to Moses. He describes himself as one who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. There are a lot of people walking around who believe at the end of the day that the good going to outweigh the bad. God's economy doesn't work that way. God doesn't have a massive set of scales in heaven, and he puts your good deeds on one side, he puts your bad deeds on the other. And if the scales tip in favor of the good deeds, you're good and you come in. That's what Islam believes. It doesn't work that way. Good is never outweighed by bad, by sin. Sin always weighs more. Sin always tips the scale in its favor in God's economy. Listen to Nahum. Chapter one and verse two, another description of God, he is a jealous and avenging God is the Lord. The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and reserves wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is his way, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the burning of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by him. So wait a minute, I thought God was a God of love and of mercy, and he is a God of love and mercy, but that love and mercy is tempered by justice and righteousness and holiness. And he can't simply wink at sin and let it slide and let it go. He always executes judgment and justice against sin. His character will let him do nothing less. So that's why it says in Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. The payment you and I receive for our sins is death. eternal separation from God in a place called hell. Not only the first death, physical death, but a second death, spiritual death. If you and I die in our sins, we will be outside the presence of God, the blessing presence of God, and we will forever spend eternity paying in judgment for our sins, God's righteous judgment for rebellion against him. against our Creator. Revelation 21, eight says this. Speaking of the eternal destiny of those who die in their sin. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. You can't just pick and piece parts of the Bible. You can't just take the parts you like, the parts that affirm you, the parts that make you feel good. You have to take the whole thing. And the message of the Scripture is if we die in our sin, we will go to hell. For eternity. So God makes it crystal clear in his word that every person is a sinner. That every person has with their life missed God's perfect standard of holiness. And his word also makes it clear that he has to pour out his righteous wrath against all those who do sin, which means everyone. So it's not a pretty picture up to this point, is it? Thank the Lord, Paul doesn't stop there. And neither will I. Paul says, therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Sin is bad. God punishes sin and he does so for eternity. I don't want to die in my sin. Is there any option, Paul? Yes. God forgives sin. Oh, good news. He forgives sin through him. Through whom, Paul? Through him whom God raised from the dead through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of sins is granted. The word forgiven here is a term which means pardon or acquittal. And it has the idea of letting someone go free as though they had never committed the crime. Letting them go as though they had done nothing of the sort that they were accused of. And we're indeed guilty. And so, Paul says, it is possible for us to be released from the penalties for our sin. that we don't have to experience that second death, that we don't have to experience the rage of our sin. But how? How can we be forgiven? Paul says it's through him, through Jesus. How can this be, though, if God is a righteous God, if he if he can't just, you know, push it aside and say, oh, let's just forget about it. Let's let bygones be bygones and move forward. God can't do that. So how is sin forgiven? It's forgiven through Jesus Christ. How does that happen? I think probably the best explanation of this is one of the shortest explanations of this, and it's given to us by Paul. Turn with me just briefly to second Corinthians five. 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 21. You talk about a loaded verse. I mean, this is the gospel right here, folks. How can God? Be both just and forgiving. Here it is, 2nd Corinthians 5 21. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So let's take that apart just a little bit. He, God, made him Jesus to be who knew no sin. Jesus was sinless. He lived a sinless life. Unlike you and I, he was not born with a sin nature. Unlike you and I, he did not drink iniquity like water. Unlike you and I, he always did the things that were pleasing to the father. He was one who knew no sin. And God on the cross made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. He made Jesus the very representative of sin. Jesus on the cross became your substitute and he became mine. He took upon himself there on the cross All of our acts of rebellion. All of our acts of immorality. All of our failures to do what God has commanded us to do. He took all of that and He became the embodiment of all those rebellious acts. And God viewed Him as the embodiment of all those acts. And what did God do? God poured out his wrath upon Jesus, substituting in our place there on the cross. He poured out his wrath against our sin. Did our sins get punished? You better believe they did. There was judgment enacted against our sin. Justice was carried out. But it was taken by another. Isaiah 53, 5 says this, he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chasing for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging, we are healed. You see the substitution that's there? God laid the debt, the account. The long list of sins that comprise your life, and God placed them on Jesus, he put them in his account and he poured out his wrath, every bit of his righteous wrath against those sins and poured it out on Jesus there on the cross. Jesus suffering in anguish bore our sins in his body on the tree. Peter says Christ also died for sins once for all, but just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God. How did God Be consistent with his justice and yet offer forgiveness of sin. At the same time, he did it in his son, Jesus Christ, by pouring out. His righteous wrath upon him against our sin. And looking to Jesus as a substitute. And then by attributing Jesus's righteousness to us. So Jesus not only bore our sin, but we bear Jesus righteousness in the sight of God. So that when Jesus, when God looks at us, he sees Jesus, and when God looks at Jesus, he sees us in our sin. Isn't the gospel amazing, brothers and sisters? But that's not all Paul has to say about the blessing of salvation. Not only can our sins be forgiven, but we can stand justified before God. So he moves on to the next word, not only forgiveness, but justification. Paul says in verse thirty nine and through him, through Jesus, everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses. One commentator says this about this verse, verse thirty nine. We have here the germ of all that is most characteristic in Paul's later teaching. It is the argument of the epistle to Galatians and Romans in a sentence right here in verse thirty nine. But the verse thirty nine, you can now understand Romans and understand Galatians. That's it. By the way, in only a little bit of time, Paul will be penning the letter to the Galatians. So this is this is stuff that's just percolating in his heart. As we hear him preach. Paul says, look, this is really good news, the law of Moses, as good as it is, is not able to justify you in the sight of God. In fact, the law of Moses only increases your sin and your guilt. It only serves as a mirror pointing out all the imperfections in your life, all the sin, all the ways you're unable to live up to God's righteous standard. And you know what? That was its purpose. Its purpose was to lead you to Christ. Its purpose was to show your inability. Its purpose was to leave you naked before a holy God, realizing your need. But what the law of Moses could not do for you, Jesus Christ has done. What law keeping and rule keeping and and self-righteousness could never accomplish for you, Jesus Christ has sealed the deal. There were those then in Paul's day, as now, who wrongly believed that you could be saved by keeping God's law. You see, the problem is this. The law demands complete and total obedience. And breaking just one law makes you guilty of breaking them all. So the law was never able to save anyone. It was never intended to save anyone. It was not a saving instrument in and of itself. As Paul would later say, it was to serve as a school teacher or a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, to show us our need. Before the law, Paul says, I didn't even know what sin was. But then came the law and then came the multiplication of sin, I saw them everywhere. I did, I had turned around twice and there I was sinning again. shows our true condition and just how far that condition is from the holiness of God and our need for someone to come in and do what we cannot do for ourselves. So Paul is saying in verse 39, this is good news. Jesus is able to free you from what the law could never free you of the word translated free is the Greek word The trial. And it means justification, it's frequently translated justification or justified. So Paul is talking about justification here, that is to be declared righteous by God on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ. To be declared righteous by God. Now, it's not to actually be righteous. We we do not know complete and total righteousness in this lifetime. We will not know it. But God, in a legal action, declares us to be righteous, completely holy, totally set apart from sin, totally dedicated to holiness. God sees us and he declares us to be righteous. That's what God does for us through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul says Romans 328. We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Works of the law don't get us anywhere. Works of the law only mound up our sin. It is only by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ that we can stand before God and have him look at us and declare us to be righteous. Any other attempt, any other effort. To be righteous before God will always result in more sin will always result in greater condemnation. God has not designed the way of salvation to come by means of works. It is counter to works. All your efforts to be good, all your efforts to go to church, all your efforts to be kind, all your efforts, you know, to help, you know, a little school of ducks cross the street, all those things are worthless and they amount to nothing. For that is not the means God has chosen to display his grace because it's all about him. It's not about us and how good we were. Because that would be a real short conversation. It's about him and how good he is, that despite our sin, he comes to us and he offers us mercy and grace in Jesus Christ. He says he will be your sin bearer. You don't do it. You can't do it. He did it. He did it for you. How do we have our sins forgiven? How can we stand justified in the sight of God? Only by trusting in Jesus Christ alone. And what he did and what he bore on the cross for you. And by turning your back on all your efforts and all your attempts to gain favor with God and somehow make it in and maybe the good away outweigh the bad. To repent of that false way of thinking and embrace Jesus Christ as the only way to the father. But that's not the only possibility. Paul has presented for us the one possibility for the eternal destination of mankind. The first possibility involved blessings, the blessing of forgiven sins and the blessings of standing justified before God. But there's another possibility, and that is this. Reject Jesus and receive the curse of judgment. Accept Jesus and receive blessings, the blessing of forgiveness and justification, reject Jesus and receive the curse of judgment. Verses 40 and 41. Just before Paul ends his message, he ends it with a note of warning, a solemn note. And he warns his listeners of the consequences for not acting upon what he has told them. He says, verse 40, therefore, take heed, take heed, watch out, folks. Take heed so that the things spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you. Don't do as they did. Watch out. Be careful. You're walking perilous ground. You may well repeat the mistakes of the past. What are the mistakes of the past? Well, he quotes for us from Habakkuk one in verse five. 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. What does this got to do with anything? Where's Paul coming out with this? I don't understand how this fits in. That's the first way I read it. That was my first response. Well, if you go back and look at Habakkuk, here's the deal. God is about to punish and bring judgment upon Judah for their rebellion and their sinfulness. And he's going to use the Chaldeans to accomplish that work. And he goes through after verse five in Habakkuk and he goes through and recounts just how mighty this army is and how great they are and how powerful are and how they're going to make mincemeat of Judah. But Paul uses it here. as an illustration of what will happen to those who refuse to heed his message. The Chaldeans were going to come and they were going to destroy Judah. If the people of God didn't heed the message that Habakkuk was bringing. Paul says, look. God is going to come and he's going to destroy you if you don't need the message that I'm bringing. Don't let this be said about you, Paul says. I describe for you the work which God has done. Now, don't be among those who fail to believe, even though it has been described to you. If you do so, you will be ranked among the scoffers and you will marvel. How did I miss it? And you will perish. In the words of Paul this morning, as they come to us, God has set before us two paths. The broad path. That's easy. And it leads to destruction. It's the path of least resistance. It's the path that says, I'm going to do it my way. It's the path of rebellion and the path of sin. And it's the path taken by all those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior. And choose instead to try to find peace with God in their own, on their own terms. But all these efforts and all these attempts will only lead to judgment and death. But thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, there is another path. It's a narrow path. It's marked with hardship and difficulty. But it's one that leads to forgiveness and justification. Forgiveness, your sins are wiped out, you're acquitted to go, you never sinned and justification, you're declared righteous in the sight of God. As righteous as Christ is. And this is the path. that is taken only by trusting in Jesus alone. By refusing to believe that there are other ways to God and by saying, Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for taking my sin upon yourself and taking God's wrath that I deserved. Thank you. God, please forgive me of my sin on the basis of your son, Jesus Christ. I want to follow him as my Lord and my Savior. That's the response of the heart who feels the conviction of his sin, feels his hopelessness before a holy God and senses the unbelievable opportunity afforded to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the question is, which path are you on this morning? Are you on the broad one? The Bible tells us clearly where it leads and where it ends. And it is clearly given us. The directions for getting on an alternate path. The only path that leads to peace with God. The path through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, it is good. to hear the gospel again. Lord, these are familiar truths to most of us. Familiar ground we've covered today. But Lord, may that familiarity never breed contempt. May we never be bored with the message of reconciliation and the message of forgiveness and justification. But may it thrill our hearts to know that we are forgiven, that that mountain of sin that stood before us, condemning us in your sight, has been completely and totally moved out of the way. It has been obliterated by the righteous sacrifice of Christ. And it's only in him that we can stand before you justified, freely forgiven. We thank you for that. We pray your spirit would convict hearts who, as yet, are dead in the trespasses and sins. And even now, right now, where they sit, Lord, their lips might utter silently there a prayer of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance of sin and of rebellion and of faithlessness. And faith in Jesus and his righteousness for their lives. Lord, we thank you for the hope of heaven we have now firmly secure. For your word, which serves as our guidebook until you come. Well, we pray that you would keep us in your grace and may we continue to walk. Worthy. In the manner in which we were called. We thank you in Jesus name, we pray. Amen.