"To You"
(No. 2899)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1904.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JULY
9, 1876.
"To you is the word of this salvation sent." Acts 13:26.
MY text must be read in the light of the 46th verse, or else I may be
thought to be guilty of wresting it from its true meaning. Paul
originally said to the Jews and proselytes in the synagogue at Antioch
in Pisidia, "To you i s the word of this salvation sent." But they
rejected the message and, therefore, the Apostle said to them, "It was
necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you:
but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." So, if Paul were now
here, he might, in addressing you, use the very same words which he
used in addressing Israel of old and say, "To youis the word of this
salvation sent."
This fact furnishes us with a warning. Remember, Brothers and Sisters,
that the Gospel was first sent to Israel. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself, confined His personal ministry almost entirely within the
bounds of Palestine and He bade His disciples begin the preaching of
the Gospel at Jerusalem–and such was the narrowness which naturally
appertained to their nationality that it took a very long time to bring
most of the Apostles to preach to any people beside the Jews. In this
way the Jews had a full opportunity of knowing the Truth of God, but,
because they were blinded by prejudice and sin, they could not see
Christ. They judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life, so Paul
and the rest of the Apostles turned to the Gentiles. I would solemnly
remind you who now have the opportunity of hearing the Gospel that if
any nation shall be privileged to have the Gospel sent to it and yet
shall continue to reject it, God may turn from that nation as readily
as He turned from the Jews–perhaps even more readily than He turned
from His ancient and peculiarly favored people, Israel.
If, in this country, men and women continue to go after the idolatrous
calves of Ritualism, or turn aside to the modern Sadduceeism of
skepticism, it may be that the Lord will remove the candlestick out of
its place and that the Word of the Gospel will no longer be sent to us.
At present there are many nations to which the Gospel has scarcely been
sent by the way of preaching it in their own tongue. They have not yet
heard it, but they must do so, sooner or later. There are other
countries that were, at one time, the home of saints to whom Christ's
name was known–yet they are now left in the darkness of Popery, or
else Mohammedanism has brought the lies of the crescent to take the
place of the Truth of the Cross. Go to the ruins of the seven churches
of Asia and ask how it is that, as churches, we know nothing of them
now– and learn from their doom not to trifle with the Truth of God
when it comes to you, nor to judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting
life lest, perhaps, the messengers of peace should be sent to other
lands and the Light of the Gospel should no longer shine upon our
highly favored island!
And you, dear Friend–speaking personally to you as an individual
rather than to the nation in general–I pray you to take heed that
while you are able to hear the Gospel, you also receive it, for it may
be that very soon you will be unable to come to the House of Prayer, or
your lot may be cast where the Gospel is not faithfully preached and
you may have to rue these blessed days in which the Kingdom of God came
so near to you, yet you did not enter in! Yes, you may lie a-dying and
you may have to lament the Sabbaths that you have wasted and which
never will come back to you. And oh, in the next world, with what
regret you will have to look back upon the desecrated Sabbaths, the
neglected means of Grace and the despised invitations of God's
ministers! And you will mourn that you judged yourself unworthy of
ever-
lasting life and, therefore, have passed away into that place of woe
where Gospel invitations can never reach your ears! I am preaching with
the hope that at least some of you may be saved from such a terrible
doom as that and that, this very hour, the Gospel which is sent to you
may be accepted by you!
There was a little boy whom his mother noticed as always wonderfully
attentive to the Word. He would frequently put his hand to his ear so
as to catch every word from the preacher. She said to him, "John, why
do you do that, my Dear?" He replied, "Did you not hear the minister
say, the other Sunday, that if there was any part of the sermon that
would be sure to do us good, the devil would try to cause a disturbance
just then, so that we might not hear it? So I am determined that if
there is anything that is likely to do me good, I will hear it." Any
man, or woman, or child who will hear like that, will not hear in
vain–that is impossible!
I. My talk will be very simple and not very long. And, first of all, I
am going to answer the question, WHAT IS THIS WORD OF SALVATION WHICH
IS SENT TO US?
If you read the passage through, as we did just now, you will see that
the word of salvation, which is sent to us, is the testimony that Jesus
Christ is the promised Savior. Paul showed that He was of the seed of
David, the Messiah whom God had promised to His people by the Prophets.
Jesus of Nazareth was the Seed of the woman who was to bruise the old
serpent's head, the One of whom the ancient seers spoke so sweetly and
for whom the 12 tribes, watching night and day, waited so long. This is
the Messiah, the world's only Hope, the one Redeemer–rightly called
the King of the Jews–yet also the Savior of all who believe in Him!
What has this Truth of God to do with you? Why, it has this to do with
you–that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of
sin/That same Jesus who was the Son of God, took upon Himself our human
nature, lived in this world and worked righteousness. And when the due
time came, He took upon Himself the sins of all His people. The Lord
laid them upon Him and He carried them up to the Cross and there, upon
the tree, He bore the full penalty for all the transgressions of His
people. The penalty for sin was death, so Jesus died. And Paul writes,
by Inspiration, "God commends His love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Now, because Christ died in the
place of the ungodly, the forgiveness of sins is being preached, at
this moment, in tens of thousands of places all over the world! Whoever
believes in Jesus Christ–that is, simply trust in Him–shall receive
at once the forgiveness of all his sins–a complete and irreversible
forgiveness by which the whole of his sin is blotted out as when a man
strikes his pen through the record of a debt or writes below it,
"Settled." All his sin is removed, as when the North wind drives away
the cloud and the sky is bright and clear. All his sin is removed, as
when the fuller cleanses the filthy garment and makes it white as snow.
All his sin is removed forever, "as far as the East is from the West."
So who can lay anything to the charge of the man whose sins Christ has
forgiven? This forgiveness is preached unto you through the Man, Christ
Jesus, even to you who believe on His name!
The word of this salvation is the proclamation of perfect salvation
through the risen Redeemer, for the Apostle adds, "by Him all that
believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be
justified by the Law of Moses." That is to say, there were some sins
which the Law given to Moses never thought of forgiving, but there are
no sins which Christ is either unable or unwilling to forgive. The Law
of Moses could not, in very deed, put away anysin, so fresh sacrifices
had to be continually offered under the Mosaic dispensation. "But this
Man" whom we preach unto you, "after He had offered one Sacrifice for
sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God," having no need to
present any more sacrifices. So that if you believe on Him, your sins
shall be not figuratively, but actually put away forever–and there
shall remain to you no more consciousness of sin. Washed in the
precious blood of Christ, you shall be whiter than snow and shall enter
into Heaven, none daring to accuse you, for who shall accuse the man or
woman whom Christ has justified? This is the word of salvation, then,
that is sent to you, my dear Friends, as much as to those to whom Paul
spoke. "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life." He shall
never perish, for he is forgiven by God and is "accepted in the
Beloved."
If there are any of you who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it
seems to me that you are like a ship that is derelict–left to the
mercy of the winds and waves. O Soul, yours is an unhappy condition for
anyone to be in! Though as yet you are not destroyed. Though as yet you
are not in Hell, it ought to be misery enough for a man to feel, "I am
not under the direction of God. I have not Christ on board to be my
Pilot." Stop, young woman! Stop, young man! If that is the case with
you, go no further as you are, but ask the Lord to direct you from this
time forth and even forever more! I stand here as a living witness to
this fact that it is the highest wisdom and happiness to trust in the
Lord! I have relied upon
Him since I was 15 years of age and my only grief is that I did not
trust Him earlier! But since the hour that brought me to His feet and
enabled me to rest in Him, He has been a good Helper, a sure Guide and
a blessed Friend to me! And speaking from my own experience, I would
entreat my Brothers and Sisters who are younger than I am to delay no
longer, but to take my Heavenly Father to be their Guide also! May the
Lord, the Holy Spirit, lead you to do so this very hour, for Jesus
Christ's sake!
II. Now let us pass on to a second question which is, IN WHAT MANNER IS
THIS GOSPEL SENT TO YOU? Let me have your ears and your heart while I
try to answer this important question as the Holy Spirit shall guide
me.
Well, first, it was sent to you, dear Friend, whoever you may be, in
Christ's universal commission which He gave to His disciples, "Go you
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." You are a
creature, are you not? Then the Gospel is to be preached to you! Paul
wrote to Timothy, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
You are a sinner, are you not? Then, Christ came to save you and this
faithful saying is worthy of your acceptation! Our Lord Jesus Christ,
in His last invitation in the Book of Revelation, says, "Whoever will,
let him take the water of life freely." Surely, " whoever will"must
include you, whoever you may be, for you have a will and you can come
to Christ if you will–
"Let every mortal ear attend, And every heart rejoice"–
for, to everyone of woman born–
The trumpet of the Gospel sounds With an inviting voice."
Young or old, rich or poor, whomever you may be, "to you is the word of
this salvation sent" by Him who bade us go into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature, saying, "He that believes and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned."
But it is also sent to you in another sense, for the preaching of it
has actually come to you. The word of this salvation is sent to every
creature under Heaven, but the great mass of mankind has not yet heard
it. "How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except
they are sent?" O Church of the living God, what a sin lies at your
door because they are not sent and, therefore, the heathen do not hear
and hence they are not saved! But, "to you," the preacher has come! You
have heard the Gospel–some of you from your childhood. Can you
recollect the time when you did nothear it? You say, sometimes, that it
has been dinned into your ears until you are almost weary of it. When
we come into the pulpit, we cannot tell you anything fresh–it is just
the same old story that you have heard so long. "To you" the word of
this salvation has been sent and you have heard it and know what it is!
Perhaps some of you may say to me, "Sir, we live in a place where the
Gospel is not preached. We have rank Ritualism in the parish church and
nothing but vapid intellectualism in all the Dissenting chapels." I am
sorry if that is true, but look here, Sirs–you have all got this
Bible, or you can all get it and it will be a stern witness against
everyone of you, whether you hear the Gospel preached or not! I suppose
that a copy of the Bible is in almost every Englishman's house–I
wonder whether there is one home in this land without it–there should
not be. Well, then, as long as this invaluable preacher is with you–as
long as you can read the Word of God in your home, or in the field, or
in the barn or the shop–to you, indeed, is the word of this salvation
sent!
Further, I believe that, to some people, the Gospel is sent in a yet
more remarkable manner Possibly the very fact that you are here, at
this service, is one of the many instances in which the Gospel has been
sent to you. There was a young man, some years ago, who dishonored his
father's name in the village where he lived–a scapegrace, as they
called him–and he ran away from home to a distant land. He came to
London and went on board a vessel, at the docks, expecting to sail.
This was on a Saturday, but an "accident" occurred and the ship was
delayed, so he had a Sunday in London. He remembered that his father
had often spoken of the Tabernacle, so he enquired the way and came
here–an utterly ungodly young man. Some months after, in a letter
which he wrote to his home, his father was surprised to find that he
was commencing to preach the Gospel. He said that on that Sunday night
when he came here, the Lord met with him and saved him. That was a
blessed "accident" that kept him from sailing on the Saturday and that
brought him here to listen to the Gospel of Jesus!
I never know who may be in my congregation. Ah, Tom, you scapegrace, I
should not wonder, as you have come in here, if there was another
wonder in store for you! And I trust that the Lord has sent the Gospel
to you by that singular Providence which has brought you among us! Out
of this crowd there must be some who are here under very peculiar
circumstances. Some of you have come up from the country and you have
been persuaded by friends to come here. I do not know you, or anything
about you, but my Lord does and I trust that to you is the word of this
salvation sent by the very Providence which has brought you here! A
child takes the seed of a weed, when it is fully ripe, and blows upon
it in sheer sport–away go the little parachutes, bearing the seeds
through the air–and you may find that weed over hill and dale miles
away! We, though not little children, take the Divine Seed of the Truth
of God and, with our anxious, but believing breath, we blow it abroad
in this congregation. Where that seed may fall, we cannot tell. It may
fall upon some stranger from the backwoods of Canada, or some Brother
from a great city of America, or some lonely worker who has been
toiling far away in India, or on some at home, unknown to us, who,
nevertheless, shall receive into good soil the seed, not of a weed, but
of a precious flower of God! And if the world is not sooner brought to
its close, even a thousand years hence there may be plants growing that
can trace their spiritual parentage to the sowing of tonight! O young
man, young woman, worker for Christ–you can never tell the infinite
issues of what seemed so small a matter as the sowing of the good Seed
of the Kingdom!
Sometimes God sends the Truth very specially home to the heart and
conscience of the hearer by the singularity of the preacher's words. He
has been guided by the Holy Spirit to paint the man's portrait to the
life and the man has been astounded at it. He has imagined that
somebody must have informed the preacher about him, yet the speaker
was, all the while, quite innocent of the man's affairs. "Why, the very
words I have used," says he, "and the inmost thoughts of my heart were
laid bare!" Do you not know that this is one of the characteristics of
the Word of God? Paul says that it "is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart." If anything in the preaching at any
time comes right home to you–as though the preacher looked right into
you, knew all about you and reckoned you up as a boy does a sum in
arithmetic on His slate–do not begin to wonder how it is done, but
realize that, in this way, "to you is the word of this salvation sent."
Oh, that the blessed Spirit would now arrest some of you–laying His
hand of Grace upon your shoulder as the sheriff's officer does when he
arrests a man in the name of the law! May the Lord say to you, "You are
My prisoner. You shall give your heart to Me. Make haste and come down
and receive Me into your heart, for there I must dwell forever"–
"Thus the eternal counsel ran– 'Almighty Grace, arrest that man!'"–
And when the eternal counsel so runs and the Divine decree so
determines, so shall it be, for the Lord God is mighty to save and none
shall be able to withstand the power of His Omnipotent Grace!
III. Now, thirdly, I am going to keep to the same theme, yet to touch
another string while I reply to this question– IN WHAT POSITION DOES
THE GOSPEL PLACE A MAN WHEN IT COMES TO HIM?
The word of this salvation has been sent to many of you. In what
position does it put you? Well, first, in a position of great
indebtedness, for you owe–I dare not try to calculate how much–God
for sending the Gospel to you. That there should be a Gospel to send to
you–that Christ should be given for you–that His precious blood
should be shed for you–that there should be full and free forgiveness
for you, though you feel that you are altogether undeserving of it–
all this makes up a stupendous favor from God. May you never dare to
thrust it from you!
Then think of what you owe to the Providence that has sent the Gospel
to you. For you, dear Friends, Apostles lived, labored, suffered and
journeyed so that even to these distant isles of Britain the Gospel of
Jesus might be brought. For you Reformers battled, bled and died that
they might dispel the darkness of error and falsehood and bring out the
Light of the Truth of God. For you, martyrs suffered by the thousands!
Go to Smithfield and recall what your brave sires endured in order that
their sons might have the Gospel freely preached to them–that very
Gospel which many of them despise! Wonderful have been the arrangements
of Divine Providence to keep the Light of Truth burning in these lands!
The fact that at this moment you are hearing the Gospel preached
imposes a great obligation upon you. Who built this place, but for the
most part generous Christian people–who are even now praying for your
conversion–God's servants who love you and desire your eternal
welfare? And, though I ask no thanks of you, yet does my soul yearn
over
you, poor Soul, longing that you may find the Savior as I have found
Him and be as happy in Him as I am. Well, you cannot be thought of and
loved by others thus, you cannot have the great wheels of Divine
Providence continually revolving to bring the Gospel to you and, above
all–transcendently above all–you cannot have the Lord Jesus Christ
bleeding on Calvary's Cross that there may be a Gospel to preach to you
without your being put under very solemn obligations!
Further, the fact that you have the Gospel sent to you puts you into a
very hopeful position. I like to think about how many people are going
to be saved every time the Gospel is faithfully preached. It is not
preached in vain–we deliver a message from God that never misses the
mark at which He aimed! We are sure that it is so, for we preach it in
faith. We always expect to hear of sinners being saved and we are never
disappointed, nor shall we ever be while we can preach the Truth of God
with the Holy Spirit sent down from Heaven. It is in His power that we
preach, far we have sought the aid of the Holy Spirit! And thousands of
you have sought His aid, too, and we have not sought in vain as we look
for conversions and we, therefore, feel, dear Friends, that you are in
a hopeful condition–and we believe that many of you will be brought to
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!
But remember–and here let me throw the whole emphasis of my soul into
my message–you are put into a very responsible position, for if the
Gospel is thus brought to you and you reject it, it will be a savor of
death unto death to you! To every person to whom the word of this
salvation comes, I have to say, in my Master's name–If you are not
saved by it, you will have the blood of your soul on your own skirts.
Woe unto you if you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life and
declare that you will not have Christ to reign over you! Woe unto you
if you are disobedient and stumble at this stumbling-stone! Ah, my dear
Hearers, it may seem but a trifling thing to you to hear the Gospel,
but this makes your position very different from what it would
otherwise have been! The Last Great Day will call me to account for
every word I utter in delivering my Master's message–and it will also
call each one of you to account for the reception or rejection of that
message! You young men and young women, and you graybeards will have to
answer in that day for the way you deal with tonight's message! You
will not be able to excuse yourselves by saying, "We never heard of
pardon through the blood of Jesus." You will not be able to say, "The
preacher did not proclaim the Gospel to us. He gave us some fine
language and tried to play the orator–and finished off with a grand
display of fireworks." You will never be able to truthfully say that!
You know that there is nothing that I desire but to set Christ plainly
before you and to beseech, entreat and implore you to put your trust in
Him, for He is worthy of all the trust of your heart!
So, have done with all other confidences and with the love of sin–and
lay hold on eternal life! But, whether you will do so or not, you can
be sure of this–to you is the word of this salvation sent and the
Kingdom of God has come near to you!
IV. My last question is this. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TREAT THE WORD OF
THIS SALVATION, NOW
THAT IT IS SENT TO YOU?
First, are any ofyougoing to contradict it and blaspheme it? I trust
not, although that sin is not an uncommon one nowadays. Yet I most
sincerely hope that I am not addressing one who blasphemes the Christ
who died for sinners–such love as His ought to be free from blasphemy!
If you do not commit that sin, I fear that you may say, as so many
others have said before you, "I will think of it tomorrow." You do not
really mean to think of it if you talk like that. When Felix said to
Paul, "Go your way for this time: when I have a convenient season, I
will call for you," what he meant was, "I do not want to listen to you
any longer; you are a nuisance to me." Let me put the matter to you
very plainly. You either love Christ or do not love Him– which is it?
That "tomorrow" plea is a lie! Satan has invented it in order that he
may enable men to reject Christ and yet flatter their souls with the
notion that they are not doing so. Come, then, it may be that this is
the last time the question will ever be put to you in this fashion. I
have you, as it were, by the button-hole now and, as the "Ancient
Mariner" detained the wedding guest with his weird story, so would I
hold you with this earnest personal pressure upon your heart and
conscience! Do you mean to give Christ the go-by, or not? Remember that
the bell shall toll before long for you– and six feet of earth shall
hold down each one who comes to this Tabernacle and who now sits and
listens to the word of this salvation!
Oh, whatever you do, do not procrastinate! Say, "No," if you mean,
"No." Say "Yes," if God the Holy Spirit enables you to say it, but do
not say it as some have too readily done in certain revival services,
without fully considering
the matter! They have jumped into religion and jumped out again just as
quickly. Like the rocky-ground hearers, the seed quickly sprang up and
there was the green blade, but there was no depth of earth, so it soon
withered away. Ask the Lord to plow your soul and to break up the soil
of your heart that there may be roothold for the good Seed of the
Kingdom!
And, in order to attain to this end, look right away from yourself to
Jesus–away from your repenting, pleading and chapel attendance and
anything else–to Jesus only, with that true faith which has nothing to
do with anything but the finished work of the Christ who says, "Look
unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth." Do not trust to
going into enquiry-rooms and talking with earnest evangelists and other
Christian workers. If you would be saved, your soul must come to
grappling terms with Christ–and Christ must come to close terms with
you–otherwise you will be none the better for having heard the Gospel!
Indeed, the very fact that you have heard it will only increase your
condemnation!
I think I hear someone say, "Gladly would I have Him now! I would give
my eyes to have Him." Well, you need not give your eyes, or anything
else–you may have Him for nothing! I have told you the story of the
vessel that was out at sea, as the captain thought, but he was out of
his reckoning. They ran short of water, they had not a drop to drink.
So at last they hailed a vessel and, speaking through the trumpet the
captain cried, "We need water! We are perishing for lack of water."
Imagine his surprise when there came across the wave this reply, "Dip
it up! You are in the river Amazon! It is fresh water all round you.
Dip it up!" You perhaps think that you are out on the salt sea, but you
are not–God's mercy is all around you! Throw your bucket overboard;
dip it up! Trust in Jesus–
"Only trust Him! Only trust Him!
He will save you now!
Only trust Him, Only trust Him!
He will save you now!"
Do you ask, "What shall I do to be saved?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you shall be saved." That was Paul's answer to the question
and I cannot give you a better one. Believing does not take a week, or
even a minute. Your heart rests and relies on Christ and Christ saves
your heart. See me leaning here, with all my weight, upon this platform
rail? Lean so upon Christ, with all your weight. Have done with
everything but Jesus–and when you have believed on Him, then obey Him
by being baptized in His name, for He put belief and Baptism together
when He said, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved."
So, accept the whole of the Gospel and keep to the command of Christ in
every point–and then you may look to the faithful God to fulfill His
promise that you shall be saved! The Lord bless you and save every one
of you, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ACTS 13:13-49.
Verse 13. Now when Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, they came
to Perga in Pamphylia: and John, departing from them, returned to
Jerusalem. ' 'John"–that is, John Mark, as we see by chapter 15:37.
14, 15. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in
Pisidia, 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
synagogue went unto them, saying, You men and brethren, if you have any
word of exhortation for the people, say so. The rulers of the synagogue
had noticed them as strangers coming in and perceived that they were
Jews, probably by their wearing the same kind of garments as other Jews
did.
16. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men ofIsrael,
and you that fear God, give audience. Or, rather, "and you Gentile
proselytes, give audience."
17. The God of this people ofIsrael choose our fathers and exalted the
people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an
high arm He brought them out of there. I t is always well to begin with
our hearers upon some common ground. So, wishing to persuade these
people to receive the Lord Jesus as the promised Messiah, Paul begins
with that which was always attractive to their ears–the history of
their nation–with a special mention of the peculiar
favor which God had shown to His chosen people, Israel, in bringing
them up out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage.
18-21. And about the time of forty years He put up with their manners
in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land
of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot And after that He gave
unto them Judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until
Samuel the Prophet And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto
them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space
of forty years. Do you not sometimes hear people speak disparagingly
about certain parts of Scripture and say, "Oh, that is the historical
part"? Dear Friends, never fall into the error of thinking less of one
part of Scripture than of another, but remember that "all Scripture is
given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the men
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." This
sermon by Paul is a rehearsal of Old Testament history–and he would
not have spoken unprofitably–you may depend upon that! I would urge
you to bear a protest against the method which seems to be springing
up, nowadays, of saying, "That part of the Bible is for the Jews." Or,
"That particular Epistle"–for they speak thus even of the New
Testament–"is not for us." It is allfor us and we are to seek to
profit by every word of it, praying the Holy Spirit to apply it to our
hearts!
22-25. And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David to be
their king; to whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found
David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, which shall fulfill
all My will Of this man's seed has God, according to His promise,
raised unto Israel a Savior–Jesus–after John had first preached
before His coming, the Baptism of repentance to all the people ofIsrael
And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Who do you think I am? I am
not He. But, behold, there comes One after me, whose shoes of His feet
I am not worthy to loosen. Paul went on with his narrative as far as
the history of Saul and David–and so he came to great David's greater
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He had come by way of Old Testament history
to Christ and by way of John the Baptist to Christ– and that is how
the preacher of the Gospel should travel. On whatever road he journeys,
his terminus must be Christ. The motto of all true servants of God must
be, "we preach Christ and him crucified." A sermon without Christ in it
is like a loaf of bread without flour in it! No Christ in your sermon,
Sir? Then go home and never preach again until you have something worth
preaching!
26. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whoever
among you fears God. Or, "is a proselyte to
God."
26, 27. To you is the word of this salvation sent For they that dwell
at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the
voices of the Prophet which are read every Sabbath day, they have
fulfiled them in condemning Him. See how easy it is for people to hear
the Bible read and yet to know very little about what it contains? They
may have the lessons read every Sabbath in their hearing and yet they
may not understand anything that is in them. They may even become great
readers of the Scriptures, yet not come to Christ as it was with those
to whom the Lord Jesus said– "You search the Scriptures, for in them
you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.
But you will not come to Me, that you might have life." If you are
content with merely reading or hearing the Scriptures and do not come
to Christ, Himself, you stop short of salvation! Yes, you stay in a
position where you may be capable of the grossest sin–as were these
people at Antioch in Pisidia.
28-37. And though they foundno cause of death in Him, yet desired they
Pilate that He should be slain. And when they had fulfiled all that was
written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a
sepulcher. But God raised Him from the dead: and He was seen many days
of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His
witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how
that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God has fulfilled the
same unto us, their children, in that He has raised up Jesus again; as
it is also written in the Second Psalm, You are My Son, this day have I
begotten You. And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead,
nowno more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will give
You the sure mercies ofDavid. Why He says also in another Psalm, You
shallnot allow Your Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he
hadservedhis own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was
laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but He, whom God raised
again, saw no corruption. Note how Paul keeps to Scripture! An Inspired
Apostle, himself, yet He appealed to the Old Testament to support his
case. That was the best argument he could possibly use with Jews–and
often it will be the best that we can use with Gentiles.
38-42. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through
this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all
that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be
justified by the Law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon
you which is spoken of in the proverb; Behold, you despisers, and
wonder, andperish: for I work a work in your days, a work which you
shallin no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. And when the
Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these
words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. They did not mind
hearing sermons twice in those days! We are not often asked to preach
the same sermon over again. But these people wanted to know the Truth
of God and, therefore, they asked to have it repeated. If our people
will not receive the Gospel the first time we preach it, we must tell
it to them over and over again. With the hammer of the Word of God, we
must strike the same nail on the head again and again. Even if we do
not utter the same words there must always be the same Subject, Sabbath
by Sabbath and week by week.
43-46. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and
religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who speaking to them,
persuaded them to continue in the Grace of God. And the next Sabbath
day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word ofGod. But
when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke
against these things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and
blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold. Though Jews themselves,
they could not bear to see the bigotry of their nation.
46. Andsaid, It was necessary that the Word ofGod should first have
been spoken to you: but seeingyouput it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. And a
blessed turning it has been for you, dear Friends, and for me!
47-49. For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set you to be a
light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation unto the ends
of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and
glorified the Word of the Lord: andas many as were ordained to
eternallife believed. And the Word ofthe Lord waspublished throughout
all the region.