Open your Bible, if you would, to the book of Acts, chapter 24, and we'll read three verses. which is verses 14 to 16. Acts chapter 24 verses 14 to 16. The name of the message is hope toward God.

A lot of people in this world are hoping for things and they hope in themselves. We all did that in our natural state and now we born-again blood-washed believers, we hope in God. We hope in God. He's our Savior. He's our Redeemer. He's the one who became a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, and purchased us with his own precious blood.

Look what it says here in Acts chapter 24, verses 14 to 16. Now Paul's before the council, or actually he's before Felix, and he's going to tell Felix that The very way that the Jews call heresy is how he believes. How he believes, look at this. Acts 24, verse 14 to 16.

But this I confess unto thee, so this is the confession of Paul, that after the way which they call heresy, which is salvation through Christ alone, that Christ is the Messiah, so worship I God. I, the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the scriptures and in the prophets. And that's all things concerning the Messiah, concerning Christ. Look at this, and have hope toward God. hope toward God, which they themselves also allow that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men."

But look at that statement he makes in verse 15, and have hope toward God. Do you have hope? Do you have hope? Every believer has hope toward God, hope in God.

My, now mainstream religion has always been opposed to the gospel of salvation in and through Christ alone. And there's only really two kinds of people in the world. There's righteous and the wicked. There's the righteous and the wicked. Safe sinners and lost sinners. And interestingly, the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. Those who are born again believe ourselves to be wicked. We know what we are. God has revealed to us our sinfulness. And we believe ourselves to be wicked. And that is why we need the gospel. That's why we need Christ so much. The gospel of salvation from all our sins by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ through his redeeming blood. I need Christ. Oh my, that's what the believer cries, I need Christ. He's all of Christ for all of life, isn't he? Oh my.

And the wicked, on the other hand, believe themselves to be righteous. How do we know that? Because we were there. We were there. I used to tell people before, when I was in Catholicism, I used to tell people, I'm fine. God's gonna weigh me in his scales and I'm gonna come out fine. No, I found out that there's non-righteous, no, not one. But the wicked, on the other hand, they believe themselves to be righteous. And this is why they, like us, need the gospel. They need the gospel. They need to hear the gospel of salvation through Christ alone.

My, where does grace find both the saved sinner and the lost sinner? In our natural state, right? It finds the saved sinner in our natural state, dead in trespasses and sins, with no hope. My, and you know what? In that state, we don't think we need Christ. Oh, how we need him. Oh, isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing, now that we're born again, how much we need Christ, when we thought we never needed him? Oh, praise God for his mercy. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for saving my soul, for having mercy on me. Now I have a hope. Do you have a hope? Oh, we have a hope in Christ, don't we? We who are the born-again, bald-washed children of God. My, praise the name of Jesus.

God in Christ comes to God's elect lost sinners through the preaching of the gospel. Christ came and got me. I didn't go get him. No. And just like we see in Luke 15, that lost sheep is a picture of one of God's people. And who comes out? The shepherd comes and takes him and puts him on his shoulders. You know why? So he can gaze in the face of the Savior. Oh my, isn't that beautiful? That little sheep's just gazing at the face of the shepherd. That's what we do. He picks us up, he puts us, and he carries us our whole life through. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful.

And how do we, how do we, how do we believe? well through the preaching of the gospel, but all by the power of God the Holy Spirit. By his regenerating power. By his almighty power. My. The believer is given faith to believe. We didn't have faith before. We didn't see a need for Christ at all. Now, oh, what a need we have. Still, even though I'm saved and you're saved, we still need Christ even more, don't we? Even more every day. It's wonderful. And he keeps us by his almighty power. He saves us and he keeps us, beloved. It's just incredible.

And this wonderful message of salvation through grace alone and Christ alone, Offends man's pride. It offends man's pride. It offends man's intellect. That's why man opposed the gospel of salvation through Christ alone. And you know what it does? It reveals natural man's righteousness is just nothing but filthy rags before the Lord. That's what the gospel does. By the power of God the Holy Spirit. And we see our need for Christ, and by God-given faith, we run to him. I was talking to somebody, faith's active, isn't it? When the Lord saves us, we run, oh my. We don't deny that we run to Christ, because he made us willing in the day of his power, beloved. It's just, it's amazing. He's the author and the finisher of our salvation and everything in between. It's spectacular.

And so the gospel declares that man and women's righteousness is useless. It cannot save. It's a refuge of lies, actually. And the gospel declares Christ's righteousness, Christ's righteousness. Oh my, it reveals the necessity of a substitutionary atonement for our sins. And it reveals the righteousness of God, which is Christ, which is Christ. And that perfect righteousness that he wove while he lived on this earth is imputed to God's people. Our sins are imputed to him and his perfect righteousness is imputed to us. We stand before God just as if we never sinned. Isn't that amazing? Oh, Lord, keep reminding me of that precious truth all the time. All my sins are forgiven. Oh my.

And the message of the gospel declares, here's seven facts, quickly, that the message of the gospel reveals. Seven spiritual truths about which there can be no compromise, no compromise. Though all the world denounce them as heresy, though religion denounces them as heresy, They're not. They're truth.

Here's number one. The Bible alone is the word of God. And as such, must be our only rule of faith and practice. The Bible alone. So the scripture. My. Peter writes this. We have also the more sure word of prophecy. It's a sure word of prophecy, because God's the author of it. He moved holy men, and they're only holy in Christ, right? Oh, yeah, they're only holy in Christ. He moved them to pen these words. And Zane was saying, spanned over 1,400, 1,500 years, and here they are, and they all just weave together, because there's only one author. That's why, because there's only one author.

We have a more sure word of prophecy, Where unto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in the dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This is God's Word. There's no compromise on that.

Number two, God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is absolutely sovereign over all things and constantly exercises His sovereignty according to His will and purpose in creation, in providence, in salvation, in grace. Listen to this, Psalm 135, six. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in the earth and in the seas and all deep places. That's a truth we cannot compromise on. God is absolutely sovereign.

Number three, all men and women by nature since the fall of Adam are totally depraved. Spiritually dead sinners. Listen to this wonderful text in Romans 5, 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Now, that in itself is very dark, isn't it? But life come through Jesus Christ, the second Adam. So in Adam, we all fell. We all fell in Adam. We were totally deprived. That means, get this, that means our will fell. That means our nature, we have a dead nature now, so our will is actually tied to our nature, right? That's why we have to be made willing to come to Christ. Because by nature, we're not willing. We're like, I don't need him. Oh yes, you do. Oh yes, you do. Your heart will deceive you. Oh, I need Christ, and so do you, listener, so do you.

My. Number four, the fourth spiritual truth is, by eternal, unconditional election, the Lord God chose a people before the world began who must and shall be saved. I do not compromise on that. Because that's the truth of the scripture. It declares it. Listen to this. 2 Timothy 2.13. This is so wonderful for God's people. Now, I don't know who the elect are, so I preach the gospel to everybody. And God does the saving, right? Oh yeah. I do proclaiming by His power, by His might. Right? Who's sufficient for these things? Paul said. None of us. But God saves sinners to proclaim his wonderful salvation.

Listen to this. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you. So Paul's writing to the saints. He's saying, I'm always bound to give thanks to you, brethren, brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. When's the beginning? Before there was ever anything. Chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, you must be born again. In belief of the truth, you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're born again. He gives us faith to believe. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful? And salvation's finished. It's done. It's absolutely finished. And it's based on nothing we do. It's all done by Christ. It's all based upon him. Now, we live a life now, trusting in Christ, resting in Christ. And I'll tell you what, the hardest thing for us to do in this world is just to rest in Christ. It is for me, my dear brother Joe Terrell went home to be with the Lord. He told me that a long time ago and that stuck with me. He said, Wayne, the hardest thing for a believer to do is just rest in Christ. Oh my, it's so true.

And listen to what else Paul wrote out there. I'll read that verse 13 and 14 again in 2 Thessalonians 2. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. Whereunto he called you. Oh look, isn't that beautiful? by our gospel, by the gospel of salvation through Christ alone, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to salvation, eternal life, which Christ obtained, and he gives it to whomsoever he wills. Oh, it's beautiful.

Number five, this fifth wonderful truth that we will not compromise on, is the Lord Jesus Christ effectively redeemed all God's elect, putting away their sins by the sacrifice of himself, and obtained eternal redemption for his people. Listen to this. This is marvelous. See, we were under the law by nature. We were under the law. It had a rightful claim on us, didn't it? Oh yeah. And it says, the soul that sinneth it must die. Listen to this. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath It's already done. He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ is the substitute of sinners. It's wonderful. He hath redeemed us. Heaven forgiven you all trespasses. Isn't it wonderful? Oh my, my.

Number six. Sixth thing we will never compromise on, the grace of God is irresistible, always affecting the salvation of the chosen redeemed sinner at the time that God has appointed. See, God has appointed a time, a time of love, we call it, when the elect will hear the gospel and it'll be effectual for them. They shall run to Christ because they're born again and given faith to believe. Listen to this. Psalm 65, 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest. When did he choose us? In eternity, in Christ. And causes to approach unto thee. Look at that. He causes us to approach unto him. You know why? Because we never approach unto him. I love what D.J. Ward said. If God hadn't chose some, heaven would have none. Praise God he included me. Every believer says that, right? Praise God, he included me.

Now I'll read that again. Psalm 65, four. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Oh my, this is wonderful.

Lastly, the last spiritual truth in which we will not compromise on. as every true believer shall preserve in grace and faith, being kept by the power and grace of God unto our eternal Savior. Did you hear that? Not by our, we're not kept by anything we do. We're kept by the power of God. How do we know that? Well, listen to this. John chapter 10, verse 27 and 28. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Well, what do we say? Praise the Lord Jesus. Amen and amen.