Open your Bibles, if you would, to the Book of Acts, Chapter 24. We're starting a new chapter, as I said earlier. We finished Chapter 23 two weeks ago. The name of the message is Hope in God. Hope in God. Let's stand up and read the first five verses of Acts, Chapter 24, together.

And after five days, Ananias, the high priest, descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation, by thy providence. We accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Notwithstanding that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldst hear us of thy clemency a few words. For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

My, oh my. My, oh my. So Paul's bought before Felix. Remember last week we saw that how he was safely taken by basically a small army of Roman soldiers? to Caesarea safely, all by the hand and providence of God. And our great God has never left him, right? He's always with him. He stands by him. He said to Paul, you're gonna go to Rome, and Paul's gonna go to Rome. But first he has to be here in Felix's presence.

And we see in verses one to three that Ananias, that's the high priest, and members of his council hired a professional oratator. This is a professional lawyer. His name is Tutellus. Tutellus. He's a professional at his craft. And you notice the lofty words that he used about Felix? He's trying to impress Felix. He's kind of puffing him up at first. He speaks smooth words. My, oh, my. And they bought this order to tell us to go with them to accuse Paul before Felix, the Roman governor. And to tell us, being a Roman, he was a Roman, could speak to Felix in his own language. Some believe to tell us was a Jewish proselyte. No one really knows. There's a lot of speculation about that. You know what we do with speculation here? We stay away from it, right? I'm not going to speculate on nothing. That's just not right.

But like most lawyers, Tutelius knew how to flatter prominent men. Oh, he could make them feel so good about themselves. And he laid it on in verses 2 to 4. Oh, he laid it on, beloved. Look at this. And when he was called forth to tell us, began to accuse him, saying, seeing by thy way we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence. The Jews hated the Romans. You wouldn't know it by here, would you? Oh, he's praising them up. praising him up. We accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix with all thankfulness. Oh, he's putting it on, isn't he? Notwithstanding that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency of a few words. Oh, here he goes. He's laying it on thick, isn't he? Before he speaks to the Roman governor.

Now Paul, Paul's not guilty of any of the charges, any of the charges that they bring against him. He's not guilty of any of them, are they? He's not the leader of the sect of the Nazarenes, which is basically, they're trying to be offensive against the Lord Jesus Christ by calling a sect of the Nazarene, because Christ was a, you know what? Doesn't bother God's people, does it? No. Say whatever you want, he's my king. You're gonna have to face him one day. My oh my. But Paul, the only thing he's guilty of is preaching the gospel. That's the only thing he's guilty of. preaching the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ, saying the only way of salvation is through Christ, and he died and was buried, and he rose again the third day for our justification. He's preaching Christ is the Messiah, isn't he, Brother Brian? He's saying Christ is the long-expected one.

And remember, when he's preaching to the Jews, there's no New Testament. What's he using? The Old Testament. He's preaching Christ from the Old Testament. He's saying, look, here's the Messiah. Here He is. Psalm 22, there's the Messiah. Psalm 23, there's the Messiah. Isaiah 53, there He is. He was buried for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him, and by His stripes we're healed. There's the Messiah. And Christ is the Messiah. The same one, Christ is God in the flesh. who came to save his people from their sins. And we say, praise be to God, because we could never save ourselves from one of our sins. My, my.

So here's to tell us he's flattering, he's flattering this Felix, this governor. And Paul's a man of great integrity. The Jews know that too. The Jews know that. He's not done anything wrong. He had gladly obeyed the Lord's command to go and preach the gospel, right? God commanded him to go and preach the gospel, and he gladly followed that, just like every true gospel preacher. We gladly preach Christ. I don't preach to myself. I preach Christ. Now, I'm a sinner saved by grace, but I preach the one who saved me. I don't have to tell you about what I've done, because I have not done nothing. The Lord saved me.

And if He hadn't saved me, I'd still be dead in trespasses and sins, would you? Yeah, we would. But because He redeemed us 2,000 years ago, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, whereby we now cry, Abba, Father, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance before God. Isn't that amazing? You know, here we were at one time shaking our fist at God in our natural state, and here we are the next minute saying, praise the Lord, he's so wonderful. Only grace can do that, right? Only the grace of God can take a rebel and turn him into one who praises God. Only the grace of God, nothing else, nothing else.

Who made you to differ and what do you have that you didn't receive? Who did make us to differ? God and God alone, right? Oh, yeah. Sister Carolyn, we're saved by the grace of God in Christ, through Christ, by the blood and righteousness of Christ alone. And we didn't do nothing. He did it all. He did it all.

My, don't you feel sorry for people who are striving to save themselves and striving to do this and striving to do that, when what we're supposed to do is rest in Christ and look to Christ My, my buddy Fred and I, we know some folks that put all kinds of rules and regulations on people. All these things you gotta do. Gotta dress a certain way. You gotta do this, you gotta do that. I just need to look to Christ in all situations. In all situations, right? And so do you, right? We look to our Savior. If we look inside, we have no hope. But if we look to the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, what a hope we have. Hope of eternal life.

We cease from our labors. We ceased from our religious labors, haven't we? And now we're just looking to Christ. Now, will we serve him? Of course we will. We desire to serve him. Gladly, like Paul. Paul gladly preached the gospel. No one had to say, well, Paul, you need to go preach the gospel. He loved it. I come in this morning, I couldn't wait to preach the gospel. I've been gone a week, but I'm just chomping at the bit. I know how Paul felt. It's a passion within us. Right? Even our salvation is a passion within us, isn't it? A love for Christ. A love for the gospel.

Why do we just burn within us when we're with each other and when we hear the gospel? Because it's a love of God shed abroad in our hearts that wasn't there before we were saved. Before we were born again.

My. You ever hear people say this? I cringe when I hear people say this. They say, well, I got saved. When I got saved, well, I didn't know you could get saved on your own. Wouldn't it be better verbiage for us? And I know some people say, well, you're nitpicking. I'm like, no, I'm not. Wouldn't it be better verbiage for us to say, when the Lord saved me? I used to say, when I got saved. Now I say, when the Lord saved me. Because I didn't do nothing. But by God-given faith, I looked to Christ. And that's what we all do as believers, isn't it? We look to the one who is the only Savior of sinners. the sent one of God. And this is who Paul preached. Paul brought before his hearers Christ the Messiah. Christ the Messiah. He did not play around with other things. He preached Christ. How do we know? He tells us, I preach Christ and Him crucified. You're not going to get caught up in practical Christian living because as I preach, we're going to learn that, aren't we? In our study in Philippians, we've learned some practical Christianity by looking to Christ. By looking to Christ. My, He's everything. What do we have if you take Christ away from us? Nothing. Nothing. But we have Christ, we have everything, don't we? Oh my. What a Savior, what a Redeemer is Jesus Christ our Lord.

So Paul was a man of great integrity. He was obedient to the command to go and preach the gospel. He was not guilty of the accusations that they're bringing forth. Let's read verses 5 to 9 now. Look at this. Look at these accusations that are brought to tell us before Felix about the Apostle Paul. For we have found this man," can't even say his name, this man, a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition. Now, you see what he just did there? He called him a pestilent fellow. And then he says a mover of sedition. And remember, we've talked about this in this study, that if Rome even got a sniff that there was an insurrection or sedition happening in one of their colonies, they'd go in there and wipe people out. So what this crafty fella's doing is now he's bringing the charge of sedition. So they're going to put him to the sword if he's found guilty. But God's already told Paul he's going to Rome, right? So we already know the story, how it's going to happen. But Paul has to go through this setting of before Felix in order to continue on to Rome.

Look at this. Look what they say to him. Look at this. A mover of sedition. Have we seen Paul causing sedition in the book of Acts at all? Not at all. Not at all. Among all the Jews, look at this, throughout the world. Now, see this use of the word world? Were there Jews in North America at that time? Nope. World to the Jews is the known world. World to the Roman is their empire. It didn't mean the whole world. So he hadn't went through the whole world preaching the gospel, had he? But he had went to the known world preaching the gospel. My, look at that. So this guy is laying it on.

A mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarites. He's the ringleader of that sect that says there's only one true God. Oh my. That says Christ is the Messiah.

And the chief captain, Lysizos, now we've found a name now for the Roman Tribune. Remember, the chief captain is actually Roman Tribune. Now we found his name, Lysizos. Came upon us with great violence, took him away from our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee by examining of whom Thyself mayest take knowledge of all things wherever we accuse him. And the Jews also assented, saying, These things were so.

So not only is the lawyer lying, but now Caiaphas and his council, they're in with it too. This is how the world is when the gospel is being preached. And Paul's gonna tell us the way they call heresy is what I preach. That's why I just laugh when people say to me, you're not preaching the gospel. Well, the way you call heresy is what I'm preaching the gospel.

And I remember Don Fortner one time telling me, he said, when people start to judge me, I tell them I counted a small thing to be judged by you. That's a good thing for us to keep in mind when people start saying things. I just counted a tiny thing for you to judge me. As Jean-Claude Soule used to say, pfft. He used to do that all the time. I'd be talking to him and something would come up and he'd go, pfft. Like, don't even worry about that.

Oh my. My, oh my. Paul's got one mission, like every gospel preacher's got, to preach Christ and set Christ before the hearers. My, oh my. Paul was not a pestilent fellow, which was a term used in those days to portray the one who was accused of being a wicked man. He wasn't a wicked man. He loved the Lord.

Paul was not a mover of sedition. He's not causing uprisings wherever he goes. Now, he's preaching the gospel, and that may cause a little outburst. Because if you preach the true gospel, you're going to have opposition. You will. My. But he's not going into places looking to cause sedition, not at all. He's a Roman himself. So when they said sedition there, that's basically them calling him an insurrectionist. So they're saying, well, he's just an insurrectionist. Everywhere he goes, he's trying to cause trouble against Rome. Again, that's punishable by death. And if it's proven, even if he's a Roman citizen, he can be put to the sword.

So now they're throwing this other accusation in, hoping to get something on him. But remember, who's protecting Paul this whole time? Our great, sovereign, majestic God, who's watched over us from conception, all the way to the grave and all the way till he takes us home. Right? My, oh my.

And so, Tertullus knew how the Romans carefully guarded against sedition and insurrectionists, so he brings this forth. He deliberately bought that acquisition against Paul, again, trying to get him condemned. And the sect of the Nazarenes was a slanderous term used against those who were followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

Paul was not a ringleader in a religious group. Our leader is our king. Our leader is God incarnate in the flesh. Our leader is the Lord Jesus Christ in his banner over us is love, beloved. We march with our chief captain, don't we? The scripture says he's the captain of the Lord's house. That means he's captain over everything. He's like the commanding general. There's no one above him. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all one. Not one of them is over each other. They're all one.

And our King, our Redeemer, our Leader, our General, oh, is the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, mine. Paul was just one of the apostles who held the highest office in the church of the living God. And he preached Christ, just as all who are sent to preach preach Christ. We don't get caught up in shenanigans. We preach Christ. I remember old Scott Richardson, somebody told him, all you do is preach Christ. Every time I come here, all you do is preach Christ. He said, can you put that on my tombstone, please? He preached Christ. Amen. Isn't that wonderful?

My. Paul had not profaned the temple by bringing a Gentile in there. That's what they thought. And then Tertullus tried to assure Felix that the Jews would have taken care of Paul according to their own judicial system. But that chief captain got in the way. No, they wouldn't. They would have killed him. Another lie. Another lie. They would have killed Paul. If that Roman chief captain hadn't come in with those Roman soldiers, they would have tore Paul to shreds. But again, it shows us God's protecting hand, doesn't it? He's watching over all things. In Paul, he's watching over Paul. And this was, again, another lie. And then we see the high priest and all of them with him agreed. So, again, they're in on this. They probably coached Tertullus on what they wanted him to say.

Man, it's bad enough Tertullus is lying about Paul, but here's the supposed high priest, which we know he's not the high priest, because Christ is the high priest. Christ is risen. There's no more high priest. My, so this supposed high priest and his fellows, they're agreeing what to tell us. My, now let's read verses 10 to 13 of Acts chapter 24.

Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned him to speak, answered, for as much as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because that thou mayest understand that there are yet not twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for the worship.

So in all the last chapter, this has only been twelve days. Since Paul said, remember Paul said, I'm gonna go up to Jerusalem and he got to Jerusalem, it's only been 12 days from the time he's been at Jerusalem, right? Until this time he's being brought to Felix. Now for us reading it, if he hadn't said that, we'd have thought it'd been a long time, right? It's only been 12 days, very short period of time. And you notice that Paul right away, he gave Felix honor where honor was due, but he got right away. And you know what he's going to do? He's going to tell him the truth. He's going to tell him the truth of what happened.

So part of that is he says this. I went up to Jerusalem to worship, 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither rising up the people, neither in the synagogue nor in the city. So he says, I wasn't in the temple. I wasn't causing sedition. They didn't find me there. And God's his witness, isn't he? Neither can they prove the things whereupon they now accuse me." He's like, they can't prove nothing. Prove it! Prove it! They can't. They got no proof. Oh my. Isn't God good? Our Lord's protecting our dear brother Paul.

And when we see here, when Paul was given permission to speak, he didn't use flattering words. No, not at all. He didn't try to impress Felix. That was not Paul's way. That was not his way. Although he could speak in lofty words, remember he tells us when he preached, he didn't use words of wisdom. He preached plainly. He preached Christ.

Paul was one of the most educated man of his time. He could have used lofty words talking to Felix. He didn't do that. He used words everyone could understand. And he gave honor where honor was due in respect to Felix being a judge unto the nation for many years.

And then Paul answered his accusers with the truth. With the truth. And I believe he cheerfully answered this. He got nothing. I always tell my son, you know, sometimes he gets worried when we see a cop or something come behind him, he gets all worked up. And I said, have you broken the law? And he says, no. I says, then you got nothing to worry about. But if he broke the law, he's got something to worry about.

Paul hadn't done any wrong, had he? He hadn't done what these folks were saying he did, not at all. And God's his witness that he didn't do it. My, oh my.

We see in verse 11 that Paul, again, had only been there 12 days since he'd gone up to Jerusalem. And he went there not to cause trouble, but we see in verse 11, he went there to worship. He went there to worship our God with the brethren there.

In verse 12, we see that Paul brings forth that his accusers had not found him in the temple arguing or disputing with any man. He'd not raised up anyone in the temple for sedition or in the city. He did not want to disrupt the nation of Israel. He went there to preach Christ. That's what they got mad about.

Remember when we saw them gathered together? When did they get mad? When he said, well, I'm going to the Gentiles. They lost it then, didn't they? And who are we? We're all a bunch of Gentiles, aren't we? Praise God. My oh my.

And then in verse 13, we see that Paul was quick to plainly state that his accusers could not prove him to be guilty of the accusations they bought against him. And this is all recorded by Luke. It's all recorded by Luke.

Turn, if you would, to chapter 21. Chapter 21 of Acts. Luke recorded what happened. What happened was there was... Remember Paul fled Thessalonica? Well, what happened was some Jews from Thessalonica and from Asia followed him And they found him.

Look at this in Acts 21 verses 30 and 31. And all the city was moved and the people ran together. Acts 21 verse 18 first. crying out, Man of Israel, help! This is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and the law in this place, and further brought Greeks into the temple, and has polluted the holy place.

They had seen Paul walking with a brother who was a Gentile, and they had assumed that he took him into the temple. And these, now notice who's the one causing the trouble? The unsaved Jews from Asia. They're the ones that started this whole thing. But Tutillus is flipping it on saying it was all Paul. Oh my.

Then go down to verses 30 and 31 of Acts 21. Now what happened after they said that? And all the city was moved, and the people ran together, and they took Paul and drew him out of the temple. And forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about, to what? Kill him. Oh, Tutillus kind of lied there, didn't he? Tidings came unto the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Why were they in the uproar? Because of what was said in verse 28. This is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and the law in this place and further brought Greeks also into the temple and have polluted the holy place. And all of Jerusalem now is in an uproar against him. And they would have killed him, but they can't. Because God told him, you're going to Rome.

My. Now, we who are the born-again, blood-washed people of God are to be honest in all our dealings with others. We're to live quiet and peaceable, aren't we, in this world? We are. before those who are not believers. And we're always to be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. Who's our hope? The Lord Jesus Christ. He saved me from all my sins. He's the only Savior of sinners. That's the hope that lies within us, isn't it? He died for our sins. He rose for our justification. And one day, we're gonna be where He is. That's absolutely amazing.

Well, I've done all this, and I know. So have I. And even more that you don't know. But God forgives us, doesn't he? Washes us in his precious, precious blood. Oh my. The inspired word of God says, and who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. First Peter 3, 13 to 15.

My, always be ready just to give an answer. Jesus Christ saved me from all my sins. People say, well, witnessing is, I get all nervous and I get scared. I get all worked up. Witnessing is just telling people the great things that God has done for me. Tell them what God's done. Don't tell them what you've done. Tell them what God's done. God found me in a pit of sin. I could not get out of that pit. I couldn't save myself from any of my sins. Could you? But he saved me. He came to where I was. He found me, the lost sheep, wandering in the wilderness of this world. He picked me up, put me on His shoulders. You know that footprints in the sand? I always have to laugh at that. There's two sets of footprints. Not for me, there's just one set. The Lord carried me a whole life. Is it so for you? Right, sister? There's no two footprints. There's only His footprints carrying us from the cradle all the way to glory.

My, it's amazing. The Lord is so amazing. And under divine inspiration, Peter wrote these words that you suffer for well-doing. He said this, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation, that's lifestyle in the Greek, in Christ, for it is better. See, they're gonna accuse us like they accused Paul. They accused Paul here saying, this man, he's causing sedition. I've had people say to me, well, it'd be better off if this church, that church wasn't even in this town. My, what? Yeah. My. That person doesn't know what they're saying. My, oh my. They hate the gospel of God's grace. It's so sad, but you know what? In my heart, I just think I was there. I was there. I was an Armenian. I thought I was saved by what I did. And I hated it when someone told me that God did it all. I recoiled so bad. But you know what now? I love the grace of God. I love the fact that God saved me because I couldn't save myself. Right? Can't we say that? We say, I love you, Lord. You saved my soul. I was lost. You found me. I didn't find you. You found me. And praise God you saved me 2,000 years ago at Calvary's Cross. And praise God I'm born again. of the Holy Spirit of God. This is for all of us, right? Who believe. And now we look to you for salvation. Oh, that's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We can't boast in our salvation because we didn't do anything. Right?

And if you ever run into people say, oh, I've won so many people to Christ. I haven't won anyone to Christ. God's won them all to himself. I preach the gospel. God does the saving, and I rejoice. Isn't that so true? Oh, it's wonderful. If you're saved, who saved us? God saved us. Was it by accident or on purpose? Well, it was on purpose, wasn't it? That's election. Oh, isn't it wonderful? Isn't the grace of God amazing? It's amazing. It's absolutely beautiful.

So let we who are the redeemed of the Lord be ready to speak of the only one and only blessed hope that we have, the Lord Jesus Christ, which hope we have, an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil. Hebrews 6, 19.

My. Now let's look at verses 14 to 21 of Acts chapter 24. Paul's going to continue. He says, but this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, there's a whole sermon right there. The religious world calls what we believe heresy. We preach the sovereign grace of God in salvation, in providence, in every aspect. And people called heresy. But we ought not to be surprised. They called Paul a heretic. They called Spurgeon a heretic. They called Whitefield a heretic. They've called God's preachers heretics for years.

Look at this. The way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets, and have hope toward God. There's our hope. Who's our hope? Our hope is toward God. Oh my. which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. So anyone who says, I don't believe in God, well, you're gonna face him. You're gonna see him one day, either as your savior or as your judge. Every single person in this world will see Christ on the great white judgment throne, either as their savior or their judge.

And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man. Now, after many years, I came to bring alms to my nation in offerings. Note that Paul's been gone for a long time from Jerusalem. He hasn't been there causing sedition. He just got there 12 days ago. Whereunto certain Jews from Asia found me, we just read about them, purified in the temple, neither with multitude nor with Talmud, who ought to have been here before thee, and object if they had ought against me." So the high priest was there with his gang, but the Jews from Asia didn't show up. Or else, let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, where I stood, well, I stood before the council. except it be for this one voice that I cried standing among them, touching the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question by you this day.

Now he's speaking of the time, remember in chapter 23, he stood before the council and he perceived that there was Sadducees and that there was Pharisees, and he pitted them against each other by saying, I'm a Pharisee! Because he believed in the resurrection and he knew the Sadducees didn't believe and they just started fighting amongst themselves and Paul just got taken right out of there. Oh my.

Paul continued to give facts, the truth, concerning what took place at Jerusalem. He gave a good confession. He gave a good confession of his faith. And these unbelieving Jews, they called what he believed heresy. Heresy. which is a heretical division-producing sect.

True Christianity is not a division-producing sect. As a matter of fact, it brings us together. It brings people from all different places who may not have ever talked to each other or wanted to spend time with each other. And it knits our hearts together in love. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts when we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Isn't that amazing? And we're family. We all have the same Father. We all have the same Spirit. And we all have the same Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul believed what was spoken in the Old Testament. the law, the prophets, he believed they spoke about Christ as the Messiah sent to save his people from their sins by his blood and righteousness. Paul understood these truths, how? By divine revelation. It's not something that we can come up with. It can only happen by divine revelation.

Paul being taught by the God, the Holy Spirit, that there was only one way a sinner could be just before God and have all our sins forgiven, and that is through the blood of Christ Jesus, our Lord, who was delivered for our offenses. Oh, and was raised again for our justification. And all who go out into eternity without believing the gospel message of Jesus Christ are unjust and go go to a Christless eternity in hell. And they, before that, though, they will stand before Christ in judgment. They'll be raised again. They're already in condemnation, aren't they? Oh, my. My.

And everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, which is the last time. And all who stand in their own fleshy righteousness are without hope and will be cast into the lake of fire forever. And here we are. Here we are. There's the goats on the left side, right? Over there. And here we are, the righteous, the sheep, right? And there's Christ on the throne, right? And what's the difference between us and them? The one on the throne, Christ. He had mercy on us. See, we're just as deserving of hell, aren't we? But here we are. Lord, you saved my soul because it pleased you to do so. My, may I never ever get over that. May I ever be in awe of that fact, that God saved us because it pleased him to do so. I am no different than those who get casted to hell, except for the grace of God. That's it. Except for the grace of God. My.

And take note, As we read in Paul's response, he's basically saying, prove it. Prove these accusations. There's no basis for their charges. No basis for their charges at all. Look at verse 17 again. Now, after many years, I came to bring alms to my nation in offerings. He'd been gone for years, not just a few years, many years. These guys are speaking like he's been there causing sedition for ages. No. He'd simply return to worship God and to bring alms and offerings from the Gentile churches to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem.

Look it. To bring alms to my nation in offerings, verse 17. He's coming to bring offerings from the Gentile churches to the church at Jerusalem. That's what he's doing. My. Now, natural man's always been opposed to the gospel of God's grace, the message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It offends natural man because it gives them nothing to do. We are wired for works naturally. We think we have to do something to be saved. The scripture says, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. Look unto Christ and Christ alone. No one else. No one else.

And Paul returned quietly in a lawful manner. He made no disturbance. The real culprits were the troublemakers from Asia. who followed him from Asia Minor and spread slanderous rumors about him. Look at verses 18 and 19, whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude nor with Talmud, who ought to have been here before thee, and object if they had ought against me. They were such cowards they didn't even show up. They made all this thing and all this rile them up, right? Oh my, and they didn't even show up.

But the gospel of God's grace and salvation through Christ alone offends unregenerate men and women. You know why? Because of self-righteousness. Well, surely there's something I got to do to be saved. Remember the Philippian jailer? What must I do to be saved? What did Paul say to him? Now, if there was something he had to do to be saved, wouldn't Paul have told him there? He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. How do we believe? Born again of the Holy Spirit of God. Given faith to believe on Christ, to lay hold of him. If you're saved, it's God's doing. Isn't that wonderful? That's why he gets all the glory. That's why he gets all the praise. Not of works, lest any man should what? Boast. We boast in Christ. Look what my King's done for me. He did it all. He did it all.

The gospel of God also reveals the necessity of a substitutionary atonement for our sins and imputed righteousness. And we have that in Christ. He paid for all our sins. Oh, beloved, He paid for all our sins, past, present, and future. There's only one truth which honors and justifies the truth of God. while holding forth the hope of resurrection and eternal life of sinners who deserve the wrath of God. That message is the gospel of Christ. That salvation is by him, in him, and through him. Alone. Alone. No compromise. Though the world should denounce that truth as heresies, such as Paul was facing with these Jews, they denounce the gospel of Christ as a heresy? We'll still preach it, won't we? We'll still proclaim it. My. As a matter of fact, it actually puts fuel on the fire, doesn't it? Oh my.

Here are seven facts, I'm gonna close with these, seven spiritual facts, seven spiritual truths about why there can be no compromise with the gospel.

Number one, the Bible alone is the word of God, and such must be our only rule of faith. Scripture says this, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man or woman of God may be perfect. thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Number two, God Almighty, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are absolutely sovereign, absolutely sovereign over all things, and they constantly exercise their sovereignty in creation, in providence, in salvation, and in grace. Listen to this, Psalm 115 and three, but our God is in the heaven, Heavens, he hath done whatsoever he has pleased. He does whatever he wants. Oh my, these are facts. Number three, all men and women by nature Since the fall of Adam are totally depraved, spiritually dead sinners born into this world, dead in trespasses and sins. David proclaimed this in Psalm 51.5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. We're all sinners from conception.

Number four, by eternal, unconditional election, the Lord God chose a people before the world began who must and will be saved. Now this is from the scripture, Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us, in the Greek that means to select, chosen us in him, that being Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." That's Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 6.

The fifth point 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. This is in Hebrews 9, 11, and 12. But Christ being come, and high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats, And cast by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And eternal there means eternal, you can't mess it up. Can't mess it up, can't have salvation, lose it and get it back. You're either saved or you're lost. And if you're saved, you're saved forever. My, because it's called eternal, right? Eternal redemption. It's not, well, conditional upon what you do. No, beloved, rejoice. It's eternal. It's wonderful.

Number six, the grace of God is irresistible in its application, always affecting the salvation of chosen, redeemed sinners at the time appointed. At the exact time appointed by God, we heard the gospel, and by the regenerating power of God, the Holy Spirit, we believed. It's called the time of love in the Scripture. Every single believer, the time of love. It says in Psalm 65, 4, 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.

Number seven, last point. Every true believer will preserve in grace and faith being kept by the power of God and the grace of God unto eternal salvation. John 10, verses 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, there's that little word again, never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And in Philippians 1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, We'll perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Praise be to God, beloved. Praise be to God. What a hope we have for our souls. What a hope we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. Saved, clothed in his royal righteousness. Oh my. We're now fit to be in the presence of God. Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brother Chris, can you close us in prayer?