Life of Paul Part 13 - The Good News of Justification

Good morning, everybody. Hey, we're so glad to have you. Kevin, thank you and everybody. We appreciate it. Hey, let's take a Bible.

Open it together. The fifth book in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Acts chapter 13, if you would, please. Acts chapter 13, and we're going to be continuing in our study of the life of the great man, the apostle Paul. Now, if you follow golf, the year 2001 has been a year with some real firsts in it. For example, back in April, Tiger Woods won the Masters, making him the first man in professional golfing history to have all four major titles at the very same time.

Then, of course, this past week, the United States Supreme Court decided in favor of disabled golfer Casey Martin, allowing him to compete in PGA golfing events while riding in a golf cart, first time in the history of professional golf that's ever happened. And then in May, there was Harold Stilson. Harold Stilson, in May, was playing at the Deerfield Country Club in Florida, and on the 108-yard, 16th hole, he made a hole-in-one.

You say, well, so what? Lots of people make holes-in-ones. Well, the thing was, Mr. Stilson is 101 years old.

Now, think about that. This man's age is almost as long as the hole. I mean, that's pretty incredible.

And the guy became the first person in history, over the age of 100, to ever record a hole-in-one. Now, the reason I bring all this up, and you might be wondering where we're going with this, the reason I bring all this up is we're going to look at something else this morning from the Bible that's happening for the very first time in the Bible. And that is, we're going to look at the very first sermon ever preached by the Apostle Paul. Now, maybe he preached another sermon, we don't know, but this is the very first one recorded in the Bible, and we want to talk about what it had to say to the people listening, and then, more importantly, what it means for you and me here in the 21st century as followers of Christ. So, let's look, beginning here in Acts chapter 13, a little bit of review. Remember that Paul and Barnabas have set out now on what we know of as today the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. Let's show you the map so you know, again, where we are. The Apostle Paul left, waiting for a map here, we got a map coming?

There we go. The Apostle Paul left Antioch here in Syria, and he and Barnabas sailed over to Cyprus. They landed in eastern Cyprus at Salamis, walked across the island, going west to the capital city of Paphos, and here in Paphos, he led to Christ, the proconsul, the Roman ruler of the island of Cyprus, a fellow named Sergius Paulus. Now as we see, they're going to leave Paphos, Paul and Barnabas, and they're going to sail north across the Mediterranean to the southern tip, to the southern edge of Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, the underbelly of Turkey, and they're going to land in a city named Perga.

So let's follow that as we pick up in chapter 13, verse 13. It says from Paphos, Paul and his companion sailed to Perga, that's a city, in Pamphylia, that's a region, where John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem. And from Perga, they went on to Pisidian Antioch.

Back to the map, and let's show you what's going on here. They landed here in Perga and then went upriver, 3600 feet now above sea level, to Antioch in Pisidia to distinguish it. It's called Pisidian Antioch, to distinguish it, of course, from Antioch in Syria, which is where they had begun their journey.

So this is where they are now. The Bible indicates that the Apostle Paul and Barnabas did not share Jesus in Perga at all. Doesn't that strike you as strange that the Apostle Paul would pass through anywhere and not stop long enough to share the Lord?

But there seems to have been a reason for that. And writing in his book, St. Paul, a traveler and Roman citizen, published in 1920, probably the greatest expert in modern history on St. Paul, a fellow named Sir William Ramsay, professor of art, of classical art and archaeology at Oxford University back then, theorizes that the Apostle Paul caught malaria when he landed in the low-lying area around Perga and needed very quickly to head for higher ground, to a higher elevation, to deal with the disease. Now there's some indication in the Bible that something like this may indeed have happened. Galatians chapter 4, and of course, Pisidian Antioch is right in the middle of the Galatian region, so this letter was written to these people. Galatians chapter 4, Paul says, as you know, it was because of my illness that I first preached the message of Jesus Christ to you, and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt, but you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God. Apparently, whether it was malaria or something else, Paul contracted some disease that drove him quickly out of Perga, which is why he didn't share Christ there. As a matter of fact, the thorn in the flesh that he refers to in 2 Corinthians 12 may very well have been a medical aftermath, a medical consequence of whatever disease this was that he had.

I mean, he got mostly better, but maybe he carried some residual effects of this malaria for the rest of his life. Anyway, for whatever reason, he went right up to Pisidian Antioch, and there he did preach. And let's pick it up, middle of verse 14. On the Sabbath, Paul and Barnabas entered into the synagogue and sat down, and after the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them saying, Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak. Here true to his strategy, and we talked about this last week, where it was the first place the Apostle Paul went when he got to town, went right to the synagogue.

That's where he always went first. And at the end of going through their rituals, the synagogue rulers turned to him and said, Hey, Paul, have anything you'd like to say to us? Now friends, asking the Apostle Paul if he'd like to say something was like asking Jaws if he'd like to eat something.

You understand? Of course Paul had something to say, and he launches into his first message ever recorded in the Bible. And in this message, it's a message that traces the career of Jesus as the Messiah chronologically, and there are five points to his message. Now, if the Apostle Paul had gone to seminary here in America, he would have known you can only have three points in a message. But he didn't go to seminary here in America, so he has five points.

And I'll stick with the Apostle Paul's messages any day, won't you? Then some seminary professors. Okay, well, I went seminary. That was funny for me. But anyway, he didn't go to seminary.

I guess you don't. It's a kind of a seminary joke. But anyway, the Apostle Paul, five points. Let's see what he said in his sermon.

Here we go. Point number one. He starts off by saying, Jesus, now that's who I'm going to talk about. Jesus, first of all, I want you to know, was the promised Messiah.

That's point number one. In verse 16, he starts rehearsing the history of Israel for his audience, and he jumps from Abraham to Moses to Samuel to Saul and ends up at King David, verse 22. And after removing Saul, God made David their king. He testified concerning David that I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do everything I want him to do. From this man, David's descendants, Paul writes, God has brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.

Now here and to begin this message, the key phrase in this first point is the phrase just as he promised. The Apostle Paul here is referring back to the Old Testament, to the Davidic Covenant, 1 Samuel, chapter seven, where God promised David that the Messiah would be a direct descendant of David. God repeated that promise a number of times through the Old Testament. And Paul says, Now this promise has been fulfilled, my friends, in the person of Jesus Christ. He was the promised Messiah. Second of all, not only was he the promised Messiah, Paul says, but my second point is he was the proclaimed Messiah, verse 24. And the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus. I'm sorry, verse 24.

Forgive me. Before the coming of Jesus, John predicted, John preached repentance and baptism to all people of Israel. And as John was completing his work, he said, What do you think I am? I'm not the Messiah.

He is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. John the Baptist was a herald, a messenger announcing the coming of the Lord Jesus. And Paul for his second point goes right back to the Old Testament and says in the Old Testament, God had predicted that the Messiah was going to have a messenger come before him to announce his arrival. Isaiah 40, verse three, a voice calling in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. And the Apostle Paul says, This is what John the Baptist was all about. He was that voice in the wilderness, proclaiming the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, just the way the Old Testament scriptures predicted. Third point, not only was Jesus the promised Messiah, the proclaimed Messiah, but now third, he was the rejected Messiah. Back to the Old Testament scriptures, the Apostle Paul goes again, verse 27. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him, here comes, they fulfilled the words of the Old Testament prophets that are read every single Sabbath.

Though they found no proper grounds for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written about him in the Old Testament, they took him down from the cross and they laid him in a tomb. Now, where in the Old Testament does the Bible talk about the fact that Jesus would be rejected and killed by his very own people?

Well, all over everywhere. Isaiah 53, verse eight, he, the Messiah was cut off from the land of the living and assigned a grave with the rich in his death. Psalm 22, verse 16, they have pierced my hands and my feet, referring, of course, to the mode of execution, crucifixion. Zechariah chapter 13, verse six. If someone asks him, Zechariah says, the Messiah, what are these wounds on your body? He will answer.

They are the wounds I was given at the house of my friends. And these are just a few verses where the Old Testament is clear that the Messiah would be rejected by his own people. And the Apostle Paul says, that's exactly what happened to Jesus, just like the Bible said.

Fourth point is not only was he promised, proclaimed and rejected, but fourth, he's the risen from the dead Messiah. Verse 30, but Paul says, God raised him from the dead. And for his fourth point, guess where the Apostle Paul goes? Right back to the Old Testament and says, this is exactly what God said was going to happen. Look at verse 32. We tell you the good news that what God promised our fathers. Where did God promise this?

In the Old Testament, he has fulfilled for us their children by raising up Jesus. And where does the Old Testament say that God's going to raise the Messiah from the dead? Well, verse 35, it stated in the Old Testament, Paul writes, you will not let your Holy One see decay. Now, this comes from Psalm 16, where God said to David, your Holy One, my Holy One will not see decay. But you see, he wasn't talking about David.

So how do we know that? Well, verse 36, when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. He was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. This isn't David that God was talking about. God was talking to David about his descendant, the Messiah, whom God was going to raise from the dead and never see decay. Verse 37, but the one whom God raised from the dead, this is the person God meant and this is the one who did not see decay. God has fulfilled that promise by raising Jesus from the dead. So let's summarize. So far Paul has said we have a promised Messiah who was a proclaimed Messiah, who was a rejected Messiah, who's now arisen from the dead Messiah. And friends, now for his final point, it's time for the Apostle Paul to answer the most important question. You know, so what?

Yeah. Okay, watch. Here he comes. Point number five is now after all of that, Paul says to his listeners, he is now the offered Messiah, the available to you Messiah. Look at verse 38. Therefore, Paul says, My brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you is offered to you through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by your own human efforts in trying to keep the law. The Apostle Paul says now is now God is offering the risen Messiah to every human being alive. God is offering him as a way to have our sins forgiven. God is offering him as a way to be justified in the sight of God. God is offering him as the way to have a whole new relationship with God, one that is not based on human performance, but one that is based on the grace of God, meaning God showing us mercy and kindness that we don't deserve and that we haven't earned. And how do we access this offer?

How do we appropriate this offer? Well, verse 39 says it, this offer is given to everyone. Look what Paul says, everyone who believes. And here's a very important corollary to that. This offer can be appropriated only by people who believe.

There's no other way to get it. Romans chapter three, verse 20. Therefore, no one will be justified. There's our word. There's our word. No one will be justified in God's sight by human works. But we can be justified freely.

Wow. How? Through faith in his Jesus Christ blood.

Now, friends, if you're here and you've never trusted Jesus in a real and personal way, it might be very offensive to you to hear me say today that the Bible teaches only one way to get your sins forgiven, only one way to be justified in God's sight, only one way to get to heaven. But you know what? We live in a culture where we're used to this. This happens all the time. You know, these radio stations that are given away a free car so they qualify for a person a day for 30 days. Then they invite them all in and hand them all a key and all go try it in the door of the car.

Well, guess what? They're not giving away 30 cars. They're not even giving away 12 cars. They're giving away one car. Only one key is going to work in that door. The other 29 are not going to work. We don't have a problem with that.

That makes perfect sense to us. So why should it be a problem to us if God says, hey, there's only one key that's going to work on the door of heaven? If you have 30 keys on your key chain, that's your business.

But there's only one that's going to work. I went to a lot of trouble, God says, to make that key. And the good news is that there's a key that works.

I mean, forget the fact that there's not bad news here that the other 29 don't. The good news is there's a key that works, that opens the door to heaven, makes us justified in the sight of God. If you're here, and you've never trusted Jesus in a real impersonal way, I would like to urge you stop stacking up keys on the key chain.

You don't need but one key. All you need is the one God made for you. And that is believing in what Jesus did for you and trusting it, what he did on the cross. Well, let's finish the passage up verse 42. As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. And when the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urge them to continue in the grace of God. Now these people all invited Paul and Barnabas say, come back next week, we'd like to hear more about this as we're going to see when we do the next part of this chapter. A lot of things changed that week.

And when they showed up the next Sabbath, not everybody was excited to see them as they were this week when they left. But we'll talk about that when we come back next week, because it's time for us to stop now. And it's time for us to ask the most important question. And I know you wanted to scream it before. I know you did. And I didn't let you. So I don't want you have to go home, take a cold shower. We're gonna get to scream it now.

Ready? Everybody 123. That's right. Say, Lon, so what? Say this is a great sermon, five points in all, big whoop.

What difference does it make to me? Well, let's talk about that. You know, I got to thinking this week, there are some words in in our in our culture that are life altering words. Think about it now. These words represent a total change in our life.

You say like what? Well, here's one marriage. That's life altering. Here's another one. Another word that's life altering, pregnant, life altering word there. Here's another one induction, as into the military. Anybody who's been through that word knows that is a life altering word. Here's another one homeowner. And I got another one for you scholarship.

Now that might not be life altering to the people who receive them. But for those of us who are going to have to pay for college, that is a life altering word. That is a good word. We love that word. Now, what's another life altering word?

Well, another one is this word justification. Friends, if you and I as followers of Christ really understand what this word means, what it means for our lives as followers of Christ, I maintain this is a life altering word. And this word represented the culmination of Paul's sermon, all of Paul's sermon culminated with the word justified.

And you know why? Because of all of Jesus's earthly ministry culminated with us being able to be justified in the sight of God. So we need to know what this word means. We need to make sure we understand it as followers of Christ.

And that's what we want to do with the little bit of time we got left. What does it really mean to be justified as a follower of Christ in the sight of God? Let's talk about that. Well, the word justified or justification in ancient Greek was a legal word, a forensic word, a courtroom word, and it literally means to be pronounced not guilty. It literally means to be acquitted of all charges. And the imagery here is that God is the judge up on the bench. We are the defendants on trial for all of our wrongdoing, wrong speaking, wrong thinking, wrong attitudes, and we are dead to rights. However, when we offer God as our plea, when we offer God as our defense, not our good works, not our religious activity, not keeping the Ten Commandments, not being a nice person or trying to recycle, but when we offer God as our defense, the blood of Jesus shed on the cross to pay for our sins, God bangs his heavenly gavel and says, you're justified. You're acquitted. I pronounce you not guilty in my sight.

He grants us the legal status of being righteous in the sight of God. Now, the truth is we're not really righteous, are we? Of course not. The truth is we're not really not guilty, are we? No. But you see, friends, God grants us that status.

God declares us righteous in his sight, justified in his sight, all because we have taken refuge behind the blood of Jesus Christ. You know, when I was in elementary school, I used to run home from school every day, run in the house, throw my books down, run back to my parents' bedroom, flip on the TV, because it was time for Superman. You all remember Superman? Superman, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings with a single bow. Don't you all remember Superman? Yeah. All right, visitor from another planet. Anyway, if you remember, Superman had this incredible thing called X-ray vision.

You remember that? And with X-ray vision, Superman could see through anything except what? Lead.

Right, exactly. He could see through anything but lead. But if you were behind lead, even Superman with X-ray vision couldn't see what was going on behind lead. What the Bible is telling us, folks, is that God, when it comes to our wrongdoing, may have X-ray vision, but that the blood of Jesus is heavenly lead.

You understand? And when we're behind the blood of Jesus, God doesn't see our wrongdoing. God doesn't see our shortcomings. God doesn't see our sinfulness. All He sees is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He stops at that, and it's on that basis that He can pronounce us righteous in His sight. It's on that basis that He can pronounce us justified, not guilty, acquitted in His sight.

It's like heavenly lead. And when we accept Jesus as our personal Savior and we trust His blood to pay for our sin, what we are really doing is just getting behind the lead, and God doesn't see our wrongdoing anymore. You understand? And the really good news here is that once the judge of heaven bangs that gavel and pronounces us not guilty, once he pronounces us justified, there is not a force in the universe that can change this. Romans chapter 8, verse 33. Who will bring any charges, legal charges is what the word means, against us. It is God who justifies.

There's our word. And when God does that, no one, is that a wonderful word? No one can condemn. There's not a person or a thing in the universe, if God says you're justified, that can condemn you. And when we as followers of Christ accept Jesus as our payment for sin, this is the legal status that God grants us. This is the legal standing in the court of heaven that God grants us. We are pronounced justified. We are pronounced acquitted.

We are pronounced not guilty. And there's not a person in the world that can change that. You can't even change that. You can't even mess this up.

And that's good. Because if you could mess it up, you would. If I could mess it up, I would. I need a way to get to heaven. I can't mess up even if I wanted to. And so do you. And isn't it wonderful? That's what God gave us, a way to get to heaven.

You can't even mess up. You know, a couple of years before I came to be the pastor here at McLean Bible Church back in 1978, I had the privilege of being an invited guest at the Montgomery County Traffic Court. Do you understand what I'm saying? I got a personalized letter inviting me to be there. And I went, spent my day in the Montgomery County Traffic Court, and I saw some unbelievable stuff go on before my case came up. And one I'll never forget, this guy gets called up and the judge says to him, he says, you're accused of going in excess of 75 miles an hour in the loop around the Mormon Temple where the speed limit is 50. How do you plead? And the guy says, I plead explanation, your honor.

I didn't know you could plead explanation. But anyway, the judge says, so what do you have to say? He said, well, judge, here's what happened. He said, I was in the right lane and I was doing 50, the speed limit. And it was a guy in the lane next to me who kept running over my lane, crossing over the lines. He pushed me over on the shoulder a couple of times. I thought he was going to kill me. I beat my horn at him. I shook my fist at him. I yelled at him.

He didn't do a thing. So finally I figured, you know what, I'm going to die. So I need to get past this guy. So he said, I mashed on the accelerator. I shot past the guy and right at that moment I came around the curb and there was a policeman. And he said, I told a policeman what I was doing. I told him I was just trying to save my life. I explained to him what was going on. The policeman didn't believe me, gave me a ticket, said, if I didn't like it, I could come tell you. So judge, here I am to tell you. And I was sitting out there listening and I said, not a chance, not a chance on this one.

You know, the judge sat there for a minute, looked at that guy, banged his gavel, boom, said, charges dismissed. You're quitting. I could not believe it. I sat there and I thought, man, I got to think of something quick. I got to come up with something. Something crazier than that I got to come up with. Now I'm telling you that man was guilty of speeding.

I'd bet you my driver's license. He was guilty of speeding, but you know what? He walked past the clerk, past the bailiff, past the guard, past me and right out that court scot-free because you see when the judge bangs the gavel and says, you're not guilty, friend, it doesn't matter what the real truth is, as far as the jurisprudence of America is concerned, you're not guilty. Now the good news is that the jurisprudence of heaven works the very same way. When the judge of heaven bangs that gavel and says, you're justified, you're not guilty in my sight, not because of some stupid alibi like this guy in traffic court, but because you've taken refuge behind the blood of Jesus, then friends, you and I are not guilty as far as the court of heaven is concerned. And it doesn't matter if the reality is different. The point is if the judge says you're not guilty, you're not guilty.

That's pretty good news. And see, when we're justified in the sight of Almighty God, that sets God free to make us His children. When you're justified in the sight of God, that sets God free to enter into relationship with you. If you're justified in the sight of God, that sets God free to bless you with every kind of spiritual blessing. And when you and I are justified in the sight of God, that sets God free to take us to heaven when we die and live together well with Him through all eternity, man, all kinds of good things happen when you're justified. And the day you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God banged that gavel and said, you're justified. You are acquitted of all charges in my sight. That is your legal status in heaven. Now, don't get no cooler than that, friends.

That's as good as it gets. They say, well, Lon, that worries me a little bit to hear preaching like this because what I think is going to happen is people are going to turn this into license. People are going to take this and they're going to say, OK, well, if I'm justified, I'm going to do anything I want to do. I can live any way I want to live. Well, I suppose that's possible.

But you know what? If you really understand and I really understand what we are and then what God has done for us, I don't know about you, but the overwhelmingness of the whole thing, realizing God would take somebody like me and pronounce me not guilty is so overwhelming. I'm not tempted to go turn it into license. What I'm tempted to do is to figure out how in my gratitude I can serve God with everything I've got for doing something like that for me that I know I don't deserve, that I know I couldn't have achieved. And I think this is what the Bible teaches, that when we really understand what the Lord Jesus did for us, the result is not license.

The result is humility and a desire to really say, OK, God, how can I serve you back in appreciation for all you've done to me? Friends, I hope you leave here this morning understanding what it means to be justified. And I believe no matter how bad a day you're having, if you can go all the way back to say, yeah, but no matter how bad this day is, I'm justified in the sight of God. All the badness that's happened to me today can't change that friend.

I think there's a reason to rejoice every day because this is as good as it gets. Almighty God saying you're absolved of all charges. Come on now.

How bad could the day be? Come on. And the good part is when all the bad days are over and the medium ones and the good ones, you're going to be with the Lord forever. And when you get to the gate, he's going to say, hey, you're justified. Come on in.

This is your home. I think that's pretty cool myself. And I think that's what you need to think is pretty cool, too, if you know Jesus, because that's where you stand. I'd like to close with a wonderful hymn that's written by William Coltman. I doubt if anybody here has ever sung it, but it's entitled Will There Be Two Throngs in Heaven? And it's all about how the way you get into heaven is by hiding behind the blood of Jesus and being justified here. Because will there be two throngs in heaven standing at the throne of God, one arrayed in their own merits and one washed in precious blood? Will there be two songs in heaven ringing through the realms above, one to boast man's virtues and the other to praise redeeming love?

Oh, no, he says. There'll be one throng, one song, one voice in endless strain shall bless God, who gave his son for sinners, Christ, our only righteousness. And, folks, let me just say, when you get to heaven, believe me, nobody's going to be singing a song about you keeping the Ten Commandments. Nobody's going to be singing a song about how many times you came to church or how much money you put in offering plate or whether you sang in the choir or not. That song's not going to exist in heaven. The only song that's going to exist is how Jesus gave his life so people like you and me could be justified.

So that's the song we want to be singing here because that's the song we're going to be singing for eternity. And I hope you'll leave here saying, wow, pretty incredible what God's done for us. Let's go out and serve him with our lives.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thanks for talking to us today and reminding us of what this incredible concept is, what this word means, justification, and how central it is to everything that you've done for us in Christ. And, Lord, as I've said, help us not turn it into license but help us turn it into humble service of our lives given with everything we are and everything we have to the Lord Jesus. Father, we ask you, we ask you to change our hearts and our lives because we were here today and we learned what this word meant and what you've done for us. Encourage us every single day that no matter what else is wrong, we're justified and use that as a source of joy in our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Father, we ask you to change our hearts and our lives because we were here today and we