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Jesus The Messiah Must And Had Come (Acts 13:24-41)
I. The Prophecies Of Jesus Christ
II. The Salvific Work Of Jesus Christ
Since we will be commemorating the birth of the savior of the world in a few days time, uh I have chosen the text for today's message from acts chapter 13 verse 24-41. The title of our message is Jesus the Messiah must and had come. Recently I had a conversation with a church member who said to me that one of his Christian friends only holds to the New Testament and refuses to subscribe to the Old Testament. Is the Old Testament important and relevant to us or do we just need the New Testament? Do you realize that if not for the Old Testament, we will never know that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the savior of the world. Ever since the first gospel message in Genesis 3:15 where God said, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." The Old Testament was filled with many prophecies about the coming Messiah. Just to give you some examples, Isaiah 7:14 says he was born of a virgin. His name would be Emmanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9:6 says, "He was the wonderful counselor, the mighty God." Micah 5:2 says he will be born in Bethlehem. Genesis 12 says he would be a descendant of Abraham. Jeremiah 23:5 says he would be a descendant of David. Zechariah 9:9 says, "He will be riding into Jerusalem on a donkey." Zechariah 11:12 says, "He will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver." Then the familiar passage in Isaiah 53 says, "He would be the suffering servant." And there are many other prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the only one who fulfilled all the prophecies in the Old Testament. That is the reason why without the Old Testament, we will never know that Jesus was truly the promised Messiah. That was what the Apostle Paul was trying to do in this passage. He was trying to point to the people that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. Beginning with verse 23 of Acts chapter 13, Paul said, "Of this man's seed," referring to David, "hath God, according to his promise, all the promises given in the Old Testament, raised unto Israel a savior, Jesus." From here onwards, Paul will be dealing with the prophecies about Jesus Christ the Messiah, which is our first point. Look at verse 24. When John had first preached before his coming the kingdom of repentance to all the people of Israel, here is yet another prophecy fulfilled in Malachi 3:1. God has said, "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me." Who was God referring to? John the Baptist. So when John the Baptist came onto the scene, he fulfilled this prophecy by preparing the people of Israel with the baptism of repentance that they might repent of their sins and receive the Messiah. John was the greatest man who had ever according to Jesus and he was well respected by the people. Not that he was better than all the other prophets. Elijah was great. Elijah was also great. While all the prophets prophesied about the Messiah, John was the forerunner. He was the one who ushered in the Messiah. That is what it means about his greatness, his office as the forerunner. John was not the Messiah and he had never claimed to be the Messiah. So verse 25 said, "And as John fulfilled his cause," which means he had fulfilled his office as the forerunner. He said, "Whom thing ye that I am, I am not he, but behold, there cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet I'm not worthy to lose." Very often when we read this phrase, whose shoes of his feet I'm not worthy to lose, we seldom give much thought into this phrase. In those days, the slaves were the ones responsible for untieing the shoes of a person. In other words, John was saying he was not even worthy to be the slave of Jesus Christ. Remember, he was the forerunner, well respected by the people, the greatest man who had ever lived. But he knew who Jesus was. and he considered himself as nothing in the eyes of God. Dear friend, let us pause and consider ourselves whether we are called to be preachers, deacons, Sunday school teachers, Bible facilitators and so forth. Like John, that is our office, our calling, our responsibility. Everyone is called to do different things. But the moment we think we are somebody, the moment we think it is a great sacrifice on our part to serve the Lord, that is when we will be in deep trouble, that is when we will murmur and complain. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? And who are we? We are nobody. We are here today and tomorrow we perish and whatever we have cometh from him. Our attitudes should be like John the Baptist. Who do you think I am? I am not even worthy to untie his shoes. In other words, not even worthy to be his slave or servant. That is who I am. Christians should have this attitude. Then turning to the audience, Paul said, "Men and brethren, children of the stalk of Abraham, and whosoever among you fearth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent." The phrase children of the stock of Abraham, was a reference to the Jews, and the phrase those who fear God was a reference to the Gentile proelites. The word of this salvation was the gospel. And this was exactly what Romans 1:16 says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Remember Paul was an excellent communicator and as a good communicator he was able to anticipate the questions and doubts in the minds of the people. He knew that the first question in the minds of the people would be if Jesus was the Messiah, why did the Jewish leaders fail to recognize him as the Messiah? Why did they reject him? And the second question would be if Jesus was the Messiah and he was rejected, does it mean that God's salvation plan was nullified? Most certainly not. So he went on to explain that the Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus because of the hardness of their hearts. Verse 27. For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day. They have fulfilled them in condemning him. Do you find that amazing? The prophets of old had preached about the coming Messiah. And after they had passed on their writings, the holy scriptures, the Old Testament was read on every Sabbath day. So you can imagine the people had heard that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. He will be a descendant of Abraham, a descendant of David. He will be riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. He will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. He will be the suffering servant. They had heard all those prophecies. Yet when those prophecies were fulfilled right before their eyes, they could not recognize Jesus for who he was. The interesting thing is that in condemning him, in putting him to the cross, they were actually fulfilling what was prophesied about them, the things they would do to the Messiah. You can read about that in Isaiah chapter 53. Some of us may be wondering how could it be possible for the people to hear those messages again and again week after week on every Sabbath day and yet not be able to see the truth. Well, this can happen in our church today as well. How often we would hear sermons that are so crystal clear, direct and plain from the Holy Scriptures. And yet there are people who not only could not understand but they would do the exact opposite. And then they would attack the Bible, the church, cause divisions and bring much pain and heartache to God's servants. When a person is spiritually blind, he or she would never be able to see unless God first illumin his or her mind. Verse 28. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they pilot that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sparkle. The phrase all that was written of him was about the prophecies regarding the cross. For example, Psalm 22. Maybe you can turn with me to Psalm 22. Look at verse 16. They will pierce his hands and his feet. Verse 17, the crowd would stare at him who was pierced. Verse 18, the soldiers would divide his garments amongst themselves and cast lots. Look back to verse one. And Jesus who cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Finally, Jesus said, "Into thy hands I command my spirit." Psalm 31:5. And after that, the soldiers pierce his sights with a spear. Zechariah 12:10. Now, all these are prophecies fulfilled only by one person. Jesus Christ. Do you realize that amongst all the prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah, the crucifixion was one of the most amazing? Why? Because crucifixion was not a Jewish form of execution. The Jewish form of execution was by stoning. Yet the Bible, the Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would die by crucifixion. Another thing was that the victims of the crucifixion will be buried in the common graves together with all the other criminals. Yet the Bible says in Isaiah 53:9, "And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death." In other words, although his grave was assigned to be with the wicked people, but he was buried with the rich in his death. We all know that Jesus was buried in the tomb provided by the wealthy Joseph of Arimatia. Verse 30, but God raised him from the dead. Obviously, amongst all the evidence about Jesus being the Messiah, the resurrection was the greatest. Without the resurrection, he would be just like any other marts. But Jesus is no ordinary martyr. He was the Messiah, the savior of the world. And his resurrection proves it. Verse 31. And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. After Jesus was raised from the dead, he remained on the earth for 40 days. And he appeared to many people. First to Peter, then to the disciples, after that he appeared to 500 brethren all at once, then to James and the apostles. And finally later on he was sent by Paul on the road to Damascus. Verse 32. And we declare unto you glad tidings means good news. How that the promise which was made unto the fathers. Remember when Jesus died and was buried the disciples whole world collapsed in a sense because they had placed their trust in Jesus and they thought that he would always be there with them. The moment he died, they were so fearful that they all went into hiding. But after his resurrection, all of a sudden, they became so bold and courageous. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the glad tidings, the good news, the gospel. They went everywhere openly declaring that Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah, the savior of the world whom God had promised their forefathers. Again, there were many promises in the Old Testament out of which Paul quoted three promises. The first promise is in verse 33 which was a quotation of Psalm 2:7. And God have fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he have raised up Jesus again as it is written in the second psalm. Psalm two, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. The second promise is in verse 34 which was a quotation of Isaiah 55:3. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. The third promise is in verse 35 which was a quotation of Psalm 16:10. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Why did he quote all these promises in the Old Testament? Well, he went on to explain in verse 36, for David after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was laid onto his fathers and saw corruption. But he, referring to Jesus, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. In other words, it was not David of whom God's blessings and mercies would come, but Jesus Christ, the greater David, the Messiah. After David had lived in his own generation, he was a great king, though he had his ups and downs. Nonetheless, he had served the sovereign will and purpose of God. He died and his body was buried and decayed. The Messiah, the greater David had lived and died, and his body was also buried. But his body did not see corruption as God had promised because he was risen from the dead. So you can say that this entire passage was filled with messianic prophecies. And we must bear in mind that the Jews were very familiar with all these verses. They had heard all these verses on every Sabbath day. And Paul was telling them that if only they could match the dots, then they would realize that only one person and one person alone could fulfill all these prophecies. and he was none other than Jesus Christ. Now we move on to our second point, the salvific work of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 38. Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin. So it is one thing to prove to the people that Jesus was the Messiah and he must come and he had come. But what has he done for you? Paul knew that the Jewish people were aware and conscious of their sins just as the so-called religious people in this world. We are all conscious of our wrongdoings and sins. Right? The question was not about them doubting the serious consequences of sin, but what should they do with their sins? How could they be cleansed of their sins? That was the main question. As Job said, how then can a man be justified with God? How can he be clean that is born of a woman? Job 25:4. I remember the testimony of a pastor who was traveling on an airplane and seated beside him was another man. The pastor started the conversation with the man. The man was unaware that he was a pastor and he was telling the pastor what he was going to do in the city after the plane landed. He was going to commit sins. He was a married man and being away from his family, his wife and children, he was going to party, commit adultery and other terrible sins. After that, he would travel back home and pretend that everything is normal. The pastor asked him, "How do you think God would feel about your sins?" The man replied, "Very bad. Very, very bad. What do you think God would do to you?" The man said, "I don't know. I just wish that God would forgive me. Perhaps I must do something to appease him for my sins. The pastor said, "On what basis God will forgive you, and there is nothing you can do to appease him for your sins?" and he took the opportunity to share with the man the gospel and finally led him to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the Pharisees and scribes thought that they had the answer and they could please God. And salvation was through the legalistic observation of the laws. But how can a man be saved by observing the laws? None of us can keep the laws perfectly. We break them all the time. Paul himself was a Jew and he knew it by personal experience that the labor would be in vain if you try to earn your salvation by observing the law. So he said in verse 39 that you cannot be justified or saved by obeying and keeping the law of Moses. You can only be justified and saved by believing in the Messiah who came for you, who alone kept the laws perfectly on your behalf and through his atoning death on the cross and the shedding of his precious blood, he alone could provide the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the only one. Remember they were in a synagogue and they had invited Paul who was a student of the famous rabbi Galilea to preach. And here he was telling them that you cannot be saved by keeping the law of Moses. They thought he would be there to support their legalistic observation of the law to earn their salvation. But instead, he said to them, "Well, I've tried that and it doesn't work. But let me tell you what will work for you. believe in the Messiah who came for you, died and shed his precious blood for you. And all the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled by him and him alone. You reject him, you reject the only way. But what if the people still refuse to believe? Well, Paul ended this section with a very stern warning about rejecting the salvation offered in Christ. Verse 40, beware therefore, lest they come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. In other words, you read the Old Testament and you hear of the prophets telling you about the judgment of God to come. And at every point, God's judgment came for those who are unrepentant and unbelieving. You be careful. If you reject like them in the old who had rejected, you would also face the same judgment. But this will be a greater judgment. It will be for all eternity. And he quoted Habachuk 1 vers5 in verse 41, which is our final verse. Behold, ye despises and wonder and perish. For I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. You see, those words were spoken by Habacook the prophet about God's judgment which will come on Judah. God was going to use the wicked Babylonians as his instrument to bring severe judgment on the unrepentant and unbelieving Judah. Even though God sent his prophet Habakuk to warn them of his impending judgment, they still refuse to believe. And what happened? They were judged. The Babylonians came and they were sent into exile in Babylon for 70 years. So Paul used that to illustrate the destruction that will come upon every sinner who refuse to repent and believe in Jesus Christ the Messiah the savior of the world. Jesus must come and he had come. you reject him, then you will face the judgment that will come. Dear friend, this is what you and I must do. We must preach to the people about Jesus Christ who is the Messiah, the savior of the world. And throughout the holy scriptures it was already prophesied that he will come and he had come. We should preach this message not only on Christmas but every opportunity that God would give to us and tell the people that Jesus came. He died on the cross. He shed his precious blood as prophesied in the holy scriptures. And he was raised from the dead on the third day. you reject him, you will not only reject the only way to salvation, but you will have to face the eternal lake of fire forever and ever. You will be burning in a place the Bible says the fire will never stop. It is not scare tactic. It is a reality when God says if you are unrepentant and unbelieving my judgment will come. And throughout the Old Testament, we saw how his judgment came. And when he says, "You reject my only begotten son, the Messiah, who had come for you, then you would have to spend all eternity in the lake of fire. That judgment would surely come. Please do not play the fool with God." So let us take this opportunity and remember how the Messiah, the savior of the world, Jesus Christ had come. Not just on Christmas day, but every day of our lives and at every opportunity given to us, we tell the people, he's the only one who can save you because he's the only one who can offer you the forgiveness of sins through his precious blood. May the Lord help us that we be like the Apostle Paul and all the disciples of Christ who went everywhere and openly declared that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah, the savior of the world. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, indeed as we read this portion of scriptures, we marvel at how thou has raised thy servant, the Apostle Paul, who was able to articulate thy truth through thy inspiration that he was able to share off to the then that the Old Testament the prophecies written about the Messiah was fulfilled by one person and one person alone and that was our Lord Jesus. They all pointed to him and Jesus must come and Jesus had come. And we who are living on this side of the cross, we are able to see how thy truth had been fulfilled through thy only begotten son. And we pray that we will also likewise preach forth this truth that Jesus the Messiah must and had come and he is the only one who is able to save. Only one who is able to wash away our sins. And we pray that as we share forth the message of thy salvation, the glad tidings, the good news, that we be able to articulate in a similar fashion that the people through the conviction of thy spirit will come to believe that Jesus is the only one who can save them. And may we not only on this occasion of Christmas which is only next week but every day of our lives and at every opportunity we would share forth the glad tidings, the good news, the power of salvation in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We give thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Since we will be commemorating the birth of the Saviour of the world in a few days’ time, I have chosen the text for today’s message from Acts chapter 13, verses 24–41. The title of our message is Jesus the Messiah Must and Had Come.
Recently, I had a conversation with a church member who said to me that one of his Christian friends only holds to the New Testament and refuses to subscribe to the Old Testament. Is the Old Testament important and relevant to us, or do we just need the New Testament? Do you realise that if not for the Old Testament, we will never know that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the Saviour of the world? Ever since the first gospel message in Genesis 3:15, where God said, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,” the Old Testament was filled with many prophecies about the coming Messiah.
Just to give you some examples: Isaiah 7:14 says He was born of a virgin. His name would be Emmanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God.” Micah 5:2 says He will be born in Bethlehem. Genesis 12 says He would be a descendant of Abraham. Jeremiah 23:5 says He would be a descendant of David. Zechariah 9:9 says, “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee… riding upon an ass.” Zechariah 11:12 says He will be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.
Then the familiar passage in Isaiah 53 says He would be the suffering servant. And there are many other prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the only one who fulfilled all the prophecies in the Old Testament. That is the reason why, without the Old Testament, we will never know that Jesus was truly the promised Messiah. That was what the Apostle Paul was trying to do in this passage. He was trying to point to the people that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.
Beginning with verse 23 of Acts chapter 13, Paul said, “Of this man’s seed”—referring to David— ”hath God according to his promise”—all the promises given in the Old Testament— “raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.” From here onwards, Paul will be dealing with the prophecies about Jesus Christ the Messiah, which is our first point.
I. The Prophecies Of Jesus Christ
Look at verse 24. “When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.” Here is yet another prophecy fulfilled in Malachi 3:1. God has said,“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.” Who was God referring to? John the Baptist. So when John the Baptist came onto the scene, he fulfilled this prophecy by preparing the people of Israel with the baptism of repentance, that they might repent of their sins and receive the Messiah.
John was the greatest man who had ever lived, according to Jesus, and he was well respected by the people. Not that he was better than all the other prophets. Elijah was great. Elisha was also great. While all the prophets prophesied about the Messiah, John was the forerunner. He was the one who ushered in the Messiah. That is what it means about his greatness — his office as the forerunner. John was not the Messiah, and he had never claimed to be the Messiah.
So verse 25 said, “And as John fulfilled his course”—which means he had fulfilled his office as the forerunner—“he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.” Very often, when we read this phrase, “whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose,” we seldom give much thought into this phrase. In those days, the slaves were the ones responsible for untying the shoes of a person. In other words, John was saying he was not even worthy to be the slave of Jesus Christ.
Remember, he was the forerunner, well respected by the people, the greatest man who had ever lived. But he knew who Jesus was, and he considered himself as nothing in the eyes of God. Dear friend, let us pause and consider ourselves, whether we are called to be preachers, deacons, Sunday School teachers, Bible facilitators, and so forth. Like John, that is our office, our calling, our responsibility. Everyone is called to do different things. But the moment we think we are somebody, the moment we think it is a great sacrifice on our part to serve the Lord, that is when we will be in deep trouble. That is when we will murmur and complain.
Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? And who are we? We are nobody. We are here today, and tomorrow we perish, and whatever we have cometh from Him. Our attitudes should be like John the Baptist: “Whom think ye that I am? I am not even worthy to untie his shoes.” In other words, not even worthy to be His slave or servant. That is who I am. Christians should have this attitude.
Then, turning to the audience, Paul said, “Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.” The phrase “children of the stock of Abraham” was a reference to the Jews, and the phrase “those who fear God” was a reference to the Gentile proselytes. The word of this salvation was the gospel. And this was exactly what Romans 1:16 says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Remember Paul was an excellent communicator, and as a good communicator he was able to anticipate the questions and doubts in the minds of the people. He knew that the first question in the minds of the people would be: if Jesus was the Messiah, why did the Jewish leaders fail to recognise Him as the Messiah? Why did they reject Him? And the second question would be: if Jesus was the Messiah and He was rejected, does it mean that God’s salvation plan was nullified? Most certainly not.
So he went on to explain that the Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus because of the hardness of their hearts. Verse 27: “For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.” Do you find that amazing? The prophets of old had preached about the coming Messiah. And after they had passed on, their writings — the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament —were read on every Sabbath day.
So you can imagine the people had heard that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. He would be a descendant of Abraham, a descendant of David. He would be riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. He would be the suffering servant. They had heard all those prophecies. Yet when those prophecies were fulfilled right before their eyes, they could not recognise Jesus for who He was. The interesting thing is that in condemning Him, in putting Him to the cross, they were actually fulfilling what was prophesied about them — the things they would do to the Messiah. You can read about that in Isaiah chapter 53.
Some of us may be wondering how it could be possible for the people to hear those messages again and again, week after week, on every Sabbath day, and yet not be able to see the truth. Well, this can happen in our church today as well. How often we would hear sermons that are so crystal clear, direct, and plain from the Holy Scriptures, and yet there are people who not only could not understand, but they would do the exact opposite. And then they would attack the Bible, the church, cause divisions, and bring much pain and heartache to God’s servants.
When a person is spiritually blind, he or she would never be able to see unless God first illumines his or her mind. Verse 28: “And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.” “And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.” The phrase “all that was written of him” was about the prophecies regarding the cross. For example, Psalm 22. Maybe you can turn with me to Psalm 22. Look at verse 16: “They pierced my hands and my feet.” Verse 17: the crowd would stare at Him who was pierced. Verse 18: “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”
Look back to verse 1, and Jesus who cried out: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Finally, Jesus said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Psalm 31:5. And after that, the soldiers pierced His side with a spear. Zechariah 12:10. Now, all these are prophecies fulfilled only by one Person — Jesus Christ.
Do you realise that amongst all the prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah, the crucifixion was one of the most amazing? Why? Because crucifixion was not a Jewish form of execution. The Jewish form of execution was by stoning. Yet the Bible, the Old Testament, prophesied that the Messiah would die by crucifixion. Another thing was that the victims of crucifixion would be buried in common graves together with all the other criminals. Yet the Bible says in Isaiah 53:9, “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” In other words, although His grave was assigned to be with the wicked people, He was buried with the rich in His death. We all know that Jesus was buried in the tomb provided by the wealthy Joseph of Arimathaea.
Verse 30: “But God raised him from the dead.” Obviously, amongst all the evidence about Jesus being the Messiah, the resurrection was the greatest. Without the resurrection, He would be just like any other martyr. But Jesus is no ordinary martyr. He was the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.And His resurrection proves it.
Verse 31: “And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.” After Jesus was raised from the dead, He remained on the earth for forty days. And He appeared to many people — first to Peter, then to the disciples, after that He appeared to five hundred brethren all at once, then to James and the apostles. And finally, later on, He was seen by Paul on the road to Damascus.
Verse 32: “And we declare unto you glad tidings.” Glad tidings means good news. How that the promise which was made unto the fathers. Remember, when Jesus died and was buried, the disciples’ whole world collapsed in a sense, because they had placed their trust in Jesus, and they thought that He would always be there with them. The moment He died, they were so fearful that they all went into hiding. But after His resurrection, all of a sudden, they became so bold and courageous. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the glad tidings, the good news, the gospel. They went everywhere openly declaring that Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world, whom God had promised their forefathers.
Again, there were many promises in the Old Testament, out of which Paul quoted three promises. The first promise is in verse 33, which was a quotation of Psalm 2:7: “And God have fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he have raised up Jesus again as it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” The second promise is in verse 34, which was a quotation of Isaiah 55:3: “And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.” The third promise is in verse 35, which was a quotation of Psalm 16:10: “Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
Why did he quote all these promises in the Old Testament? Well, he went on to explain in verse 36: “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.” “But he — referring to Jesus — whom God raised again, saw no corruption.” In other words, it was not David of whom God’s blessings and mercies would come, but Jesus Christ — the greater David, the Messiah. After David had lived in his own generation, he was a great king, though he had his ups and downs. Nonetheless, he had served the sovereign will and purpose of God. He died, and his body was buried and decayed. The Messiah, the greater David, had lived and died, and His body was also buried. But His body did not see corruption, as God had promised, because He was risen from the dead.
So you can say that this entire passage was filled with messianic prophecies. And we must bear in mind that the Jews were very familiar with all these verses. They had heard all these verses on every Sabbath day. And Paul was telling them that if only they could match the dots, then they would realise that only one Person, and one Person alone, could fulfil all these prophecies — and He was none other than Jesus Christ.
II. The Salvific Work Of Jesus Christ
Now we move on to our second point, the salvific work of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 38: “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.” So it is one thing to prove to the people that Jesus was the Messiah, and He must come, and He had come. But what has He done for you?
Paul knew that the Jewish people were aware and conscious of their sins, just as the so-called religious people in this world. We are all conscious of our wrongdoings and sins, right? The question was not about them doubting the serious consequences of sin, but what should they do with their sins? How could they be cleansed of their sins? That was the main question. As Job said, “How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?” (Job 25:4).
I remember the testimony of a pastor who was travelling on an aeroplane, and seated beside him was another man. The pastor started the conversation with the man. The man was unaware that he was a pastor, and he was telling the pastor what he was going to do in the city after the plane landed. He was going to commit sins. He was a married man, and being away from his family, his wife, and children, he was going to party, commit adultery, and other terrible sins. After that, he would travel back home and pretend that everything was normal.
The pastor asked him, “How do you think God would feel about your sins?” The man replied, “Very bad. Very, very bad.” “What do you think God would do to you?” The man said, “I don’t know. I just wish that God would forgive me. Perhaps I must do something to appease Him for my sins.” The pastor said, “On what basis will God forgive you, and there is nothing you can do to appease Him for your sins?” And he took the opportunity to share with the man the gospel and finally led him to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, the Pharisees and scribes thought that they had the answer, and they could please God, and salvation was through the legalistic observation of the law. But how can a man be saved by observing the law? None of us can keep the law perfectly. We break it all the time. Paul himself was a Jew, and he knew it by personal experience that the labour would be in vain if you try to earn your salvation by observing the law. So he said in verse 39 that you cannot be justified or saved by obeying and keeping the law of Moses. You can only be justified and saved by believing in the Messiah who came for you, who alone kept the law perfectly on your behalf, and through His atoning death on the cross, and the shedding of His precious blood, He alone could provide the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the only one.
Remember, they were in a synagogue, and they had invited Paul, who was a student of the famous Rabbi Gamaliel, to preach. And here he was telling them that you cannot be saved by keeping the law of Moses. They thought he would be there to support their legalistic observation of the law to earn their salvation. But instead, he said to them, “Well, I’ve tried that, and it doesn’t work. But let me tell you what will work for you. Believe in the Messiah who came for you, died, and shed His precious blood for you. And all the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled by Him, and Him alone. You reject Him, you reject the only way.”
But what if the people still refuse to believe? Well, Paul ended this section with a very stern warning about rejecting the salvation offered in Christ. Verse 40: “Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets.” In other words, you read the Old Testament, and you hear of the prophets telling you about the judgment of God to come. And at every point, God’s judgment came for those who were unrepentant and unbelieving. You be careful. If you reject, like them of old who had rejected, you would also face the same judgment. But this will be a greater judgment. It will be for all eternity.
And he quoted Habakkuk 1:5 in verse 41, which is our final verse: “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” You see, those words were spoken by Habakkuk the prophet about God’s judgment which would come upon Judah. God was going to use the wicked Babylonians as His instrument to bring severe judgment upon the unrepentant and unbelieving Judah. Even though God sent His prophet Habakkuk to warn them of His impending judgment, they still refused to believe.
And what happened? They were judged. The Babylonians came, and they were sent into exile in Babylon for seventy years. So Paul used that to illustrate the destruction that will come upon every sinner who refuses to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Jesus must come, and He had come. You reject Him, then you will face the judgment that will come. Dear friend, this is what you and I must do. We must preach to the people about Jesus Christ, who is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. And throughout the Holy Scriptures, it was already prophesied that He would come, and He had come.
We should preach this message not only on Christmas, but every opportunity that God would give to us, and tell the people that Jesus came. He died on the cross. He shed His precious blood, as prophesied in the Holy Scriptures. And He was raised from the dead on the third day. You reject Him, you will not only reject the only way to salvation, but you will have to face the eternal lake of fire forever and ever. You will be burning in a place the Bible says the fire will never be quenched. It is not a scare tactic. It is a reality.
When God says, if you are unrepentant and unbelieving, My judgment will come. And throughout the Old Testament, we saw how His judgment came. And when He says, “You reject My only begotten Son, the Messiah, who had come for you, then you would have to spend all eternity in the lake of fire,” that judgment would surely come. Please do not play the fool with God.
So let us take this opportunity and remember how the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, had come. Not just on Christmas Day, but every day of our lives, and at every opportunity given to us, we tell the people He is the only one who can save you, because He is the only one who can offer you the forgiveness of sins through His precious blood. May the Lord help us that we be like the Apostle Paul and all the disciples of Christ, who went everywhere and openly declared that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, indeed, as we read this portion of Scripture, we marvel at how Thou hast raised Thy servant, the Apostle Paul, who was able to articulate Thy truth through Thy inspiration, that he was able to share forth to the people that the Old Testament, the prophecies written about the Messiah, were fulfilled by one Person, and one Person alone, and that was our Lord Jesus. They all pointed to Him, and Jesus must come, and Jesus had come. And we who are living on this side of the cross, we are able to see how Thy truth has been fulfilled through Thy only begotten Son.
And we pray that we will also likewise preach forth this truth, that Jesus the Messiah must and had come, and He is the only one who is able to save, the only one who is able to wash away our sins. And we pray that as we share forth the message of Thy salvation — the glad tidings, the good news — that we be able to articulate in a similar fashion, that the people, through the conviction of Thy Spirit, will come to believe that Jesus is the only one who can save them. And may we not only on this occasion of Christmas, which is only next week, but every day of our lives, and at every opportunity, we would share forth the glad tidings, the good news, the power of salvation in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.