Unworthy of Everlasting Life

Introduction

Periodically as we work out way through the book of Acts we are going to come across sermon’s that Peter and Paul preached. Often these messages will be evangelistic message preaching the gospel. If you are like me, when a preacher starts preaching the gospel as a Christian we can easily slip into thinking, “ I don’t need this message.” I think that thoughts like this diminish the value of the gospel. Is the gospel merely for the lost and does it have no benefit to the believer?

Why do Christians need to hear the Gospel?

It helps you see the gospel from other perspectives and ties the bible together- Sometimes we can get so used to thinking about the gospel as the Roman’s road presentation that we think of it in only one way. In today’s message you are going to see Paul reference certain bible passages that maybe you wouldn’t have thought of using to show the gospel. As a soulwinner, I take from this that there are many ways to give the gospel to the lost. It is best not to get locked into one way. A good soul-winner sees the need of the person and tailors their approach to the individual.

It promotes spiritual growth- None of us know everything and none of us have arrived. Messages like this can help us refocus on what is important: the gospel. We need to get the gospel out to everyone. That is the central mission of the church and maybe hearing this message will remind us that not everyone knows this truth.

It promotes unity- If you truly understand the gospel, then you know we are all sinners saved by grace. This is humbling and only by pride comes contention. If you want a solution to disunity, remind people that we are all guilty before God and it is only his mercy that I am even here. If I am a sinner who has been forgiven of so much, how can I sit there and judge you who has been forgiven of so much. Remember the words of Jesus, “He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.” Thinking like this will help me be more patient with others.

It promotes worship- I should be thanking God every day of my life that He saw fit to save me. I don’t deserve His mercy. The gospel reminds me of that and calls me to worship Him.

Not every one who says they are a Christian truly is. There are churches around the country that call themselves Christian and yet they are not. It would be foolish of us to think that that couldn’t be true of someone here today.

Last time we looked at this chapter, Paul had recently left the island of Crete and is now heading inland to Antioch of Pisidia. This is not the same Antioch that he was sent out from. In fact there were 16 cities names Antioch by a Syrian King named Seleucus in honor of his father Antiochus. This Antioch is in Galatia which is Southern Turkey today. Paul enters the synagogue on the Sabbath day and the elders of the synagogue invite him to preach a message after the reading of the scriptures. This chapter is pivotal in the book of Acts because it marks a dramatic shift in ministry for Paul. Most of our message will focus on the message that he preached, but Paul makes a claim that someone who has heard his message is in vs 46 unworthy of everlasting life. The question I want to ask today is:

Who is unworthy of eternal life?

If you were to answer that question, you might say Hitler. And you would be right but not for the reasons you are thinking? Is there anyone who is too far gone to be saved? By the end of this text, Paul is going ton conclude that a group in his audience is unworthy of everlasting life.

I. God’s History of Provision vs13-25

Paul’s sermon can really be divided into three different sections by the repeated phrase Men and Brethren found in vs 15,26, 38. This is the outline for today’s message. Paul is preaching to a group of Jews, so he begins his message tracing God’s mercy and care for the Jewish people throughout history. This story is traced by problems and God stepping in to help them with their problem.

A. In Egypt- vs 17 the Jews had been enslaved under a Pharoah who didn’t know Joseph. They had been living there for nearly 400 years and this man turned on them and made them slaves. He had them making bricks for his building projects and fed them bare minimum and flavorless foods. Later in the wilderness they would miss these bland foods, but their life was hard. The Egyptian soldiers would beat them if they didn’t work hard enough. My mind envisions one of those concentrations camps where the workers have to collect and break stones all day long. The guards stand their wiping them if they aren’t moving fast enough. The Pharoah decides to be even harder by not providing the materials to make the bricks; so either they have to go get them now or they make them without the materials. But God was faithful. He saw their pain and sent Moses to deliver them. Vs 17 says he brought them out with a high arm which pictures Moses raising his hands over the red sea to split the waters so they could go over to the other side and then destroying the Egyptian army in those same waters.

B. In the wilderness- vs 18-19 the people cross over and end up wandering in the desert for 40 years because they were too afraid to try to take the land of Canaan. Many people died in that wilderness, but when they eventually obeyed God and were able to go into Canaan, God helped them defeat the seven nations of Canaan. One of the greatest of those victories was at Jericho. Jericho was a huge city with strong walls adn God commanded them to walk around it on the seventh day seven times and then blow a trumpet. The result: God knocked those walls down.

C. In Canaan- vs20 The problem is they still refused to obey God completely and so some of the Canaanite peoples still remained in the land. They would come and attack Israel and enslave them, but God would raise up judges to deliver them.

D. In the kingdom- vs 21-23 towards the end of this time, the people got tired of judges and wanted a king; so God gave them Saul to defeat the Philistines. Saul disobeyed God as well and left Agag alive; so God removed him. Finally, God provided King David one of the greatest kings of Israel to reign and deliver the people of Israel. He defeated their enemies and established the Kingdom of Israel which would grow under his son Solomon.

All of these stories are not useless information that Paul decides to throw into the message. Paul is tracing how God has always made provision to save His people in times of need. All of these events point us forward to the birth of Jesus Christ in vs 23. God had promised a deliverer who would be a descendent of David.

This is why this is important: You have a problem. Just like Israel was right then when Paul was preaching, you are estranged from God. That just means you are cut off from God. Your sin has separated you from God. Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

What does this mean for you practically?

Your sins will be judged- God is a just God. He must punish sin.

You cannot go to heaven- nothing sinful can remain where God is. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil. When we choose to sin, we have aligned ourselves with the devil as an enemy of God. In doing so, we have consigned ourselves to the same fate as Satan: an eternity in the lake of fire which is called the second death.

This is why when Jesus comes on the scene, John the Baptist preaches a message of repentance. vs 24 Repentance means to change your mind about something. John was telling the people of Israel, stop pursuing your sinful ways turn from your sin and return to God. They were guilty and judgment will come. But Just like in all those stories God has provided a deliverer. In vs 24, John said he was not that deliverer. Jesus is the Savior. He is the deliverer. He is the only one who can deliver us from the judgment of God.

II. The Message of Salvation vs 26-37

The next part of Paul’s message is about the word of this salvation. vs 26 The message these Jews needed to hear is that there is hope of deliverance. In vs 27 he tells us that these Jews didn’t understand. They didn’t understand even though:

they had Jesus right there in front of them- they knew him not- they didn’t recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. He fulfilled all their prophecies and yet they didn’t see it.

they also had heard the scriptures about the Messiah every single Sabbath day as the Torah and the prophets were read. This one is so true of so many people today. These were religious people. They thought they were the people of God. They heard the bible read every single week and yet they missed out on the Messiah. We have people who come to churches all the time. They even call themselves Christians and yet they do not truly have a relationship with Jesus Christ as their savior. They have never truly placed their faith in him. Hebrews warns about these type of people over and over. Maybe they think they are good because they grew up in church or their parents were Christians. Maybe they were baptised or they generally do good. But none of those things are the provision God has made to save them. Only Jesus Christ can save them from their sins

The irony of the passage is that these religious people because of their rejection of Jesus actually fulfilled prophecy by killing Jesus Christ.

The message of salvation is this: vs 28-31 Jesus was innocent. He was sinless because only he could be. He was God. But even though he was sinless, they killed him by hanging him on a cross. They buried him the innocent lamb of God; but here is the climax God raised him from the dead. This is what we call the gospel. This is the message of salvation: Jesus Christ the innocent Son of God was killed, buried and rose again all for your sins. He paid the penalty you owe. It is like having a debt you cannot pay. Maybe you owe a million dollars and you have no hope of making that much money in your lifetime; but someone comes and pays it for you. Jesus was God’s provision for your salvation.

In case you are skeptical like these Jews, Paul gives us some proof that this is all true:

The witnesses- Here is the amazing fact, Jesus appeared after he rose from the dead to a bunch of people. These people then went and preached that he was risen. Why is this evidence so strong? Well in those days, some of the witnesses were still alive. Paul being one of them. But it is still strong evidence for us today. You might argue that they were all lying, but liars don’t die in mass for what they are saying. These witnesses refused to deny their message and they were killed for it.

Jesus was also the fulfillment of scripture- vs 33-37 show us that God had promised that the Messiah would not suffer corruption. Paul quotes two Psalms: Psalm 2:7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee.” and Psalm 16:10 “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” which the Jews interpreted as being about David, but as Paul points out in vs 36 David died and his body decomposed in the grave, but Jesus rose from the dead. Decomposition traditionally begins 24-72 hours after death and then the body begins to bloat. Jesus rose from the dead before those 72 hours would have been completed.

III. The Invitation of Salvation vs 38-41

So if all this is true what should you do about it. Paul expected the Jews to have the same response that he expects us to have today.

Responses to the gospel:

We should feel hope forgiveness of sins- Jesus death on the cross allows us to have our sins forgiven. Paul also says we can be justified by Jesus Christ. When someone hurts you, they create a debt and ill-will between you and them; but when we forgive that debt, those feelings of ill-will are all wiped away. Justified means to be legally declared righteous or innocent. Because Jesus paid the penalty that I owe, I can be declared innocent by God. I don’t have to pay that penalty any more. I do not have to go to hell and face God’s judgment because of my sins. They were paid for by Jesus Christ. It is like a debt collector coming after you once you debt has been paid. You can turn to him and say my debt is completely paid. There is hope that I don’t have to face God’s judgment.

We should feel Indebted through this man- My salvation is not because of anything I have done. Jesus Christ paid it all. Nothing I do can make my sins go away. Paul says the Jews could not be justified by the law of Moses. They couldn’t make their sin go away by keeping the law and doing good. Think of it this way: A murderer can never make his guilt go away just because he does charitable deeds the rest of his life. A life of good does not erase sin. If my salvation is only because of what Jesus did, I owe Him my life.

We should feel responsible all that believe- This salvation is forced on anyone, it must be received by faith. Who is it that is justified and forgiven: all that believe. To believe is to have faith or place your trust in Jesus Christ. To depend on him to save you and nothing else. You are facing a problem: God has to judge sin and you are separated from God. But a way to be forgiven is offered to you. What will you do are you going to be like these Jews who according to vs 45

contradict and blaspheme - they scoffed and rejected Paul’s message. They refused. Or will you.

believe- accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers you.

There is a severe warning given in this passage: Beware. Sometimes we are too gentle in our presentation of the gospel. This choice is important. There is heaven to gain if you accept and hell to pay if you reject. Paul ends by quoting Hab 1:5 which promises that if they do not believe God’s message, they will wonder and perish. You can walk out of here this morning and ignore everything I have said, but second chances are not guaranteed. Death can come at any moment but even more serious is the fact that God might stop offering you the option to be saved.

Conclusion

So let’s end where we began. Who is unworthy of eternal life? The answer is simple: those who reject the message of the gospel. None of us are truly worthy of salvation, but those who believe on Jesus Christ are made worthy; not because of anything we have done or will do, but because of what Jesus Christ did.

Today you have heard the gospel preached atleast one more time. Are you going to reveal that you are unworthy of that message by rejecting it?

Hebrews 3:7-8 “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:”

Hebrews 3:11 “So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)”