have a very important message for all of us. We've heard this truth before, but I think it's one that we need to be continuously reminded that God is ever with us. It's nice to be reminded of that, isn't it? It's nice to have that set before us. Because when things happen in our lives, sometimes we forget that. If we're honest with each other, sometimes we forget that. But I'll tell you what, there's nothing we go through that God isn't right beside his born-again, blood-washed people. And you know what he does? He gives us strength. He gives us grace during all those times, all those times. You know why? Because he loves us. He loves us. He purchased us with his blood, mine.

Turn, if you would, to the book of Acts, chapter 23. Now, last week we looked at the section that we're going to look at again today, but we are going to really focus on verse 11 in the latter part of this message. Let's stand up together. We're going to read verses 6 to 11 together. This will be our context again today. Acts chapter 23, verses 6 to 11. Let's stand up and read this together.

But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope and resurrection of the dead. I am called in question. And when he had said so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry, and the scribes that were of the Pharisees part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. And when there arose a great dissension, The chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. In the night following, the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

My, oh, my! So the name of the message is, God ever with us. And it comes from that portion of verse 11 where it says, the Lord stood by him. Isn't that wonderful? Paul wasn't alone, was he? Nope. God was with him. And you know God's promises people, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. We see that come to pass right there with Paul, don't we? We may not see him, but he's ever with us.

You know, he's like a shepherd that cares for sheep, right? And never forget that we're all sheep, singular sheep, but one in Christ. And he cares as much for one lost sheep as he does for any of the lost sheep, whether they be saved or lost. He loves his sheep. He loves his sheep. Oh my, it's wonderful. And God's people are called the sheep of God. the sheep of God.

Now, a comforting truth for every born-again, blood-washed believer, every child of God, is the fact that the Lord is ever with us. How comforting is that to us? No matter the craziness that goes on in the world, the Lord's ever with us. He'll never leave us. As a matter of fact, on our day of death, too, He's right there and He's going to take us home. Isn't that wonderful? to be in his presence forever, all because of his blood and his righteousness, which was shed, his blood shed at Calvary's cross to redeem our eternal souls and his perfect righteousness, which he wrought out so that we can stand in the presence of God. Sinless, sinners, a bunch of sinners saved by grace. Isn't that wonderful? All because of what Christ has done, that's it.

And we, as God's blood-washed people, we take great comfort in knowing that whatever situation we find ourselves in, think of the worst situation you've been in. And I'm talking, I'm talking here, before you were saved, ah, grace before grace. Because you're always, we've been a sheep since eternity, haven't we, brother? And he watches over all his sheep. Before we were saved and even after. Think of the worst situation you were in, in your life. God was watching over and protecting you. It could have been even worse. He restrained people from things, right? He restrained us too, didn't he, sometimes. From doing something we'd regret for the rest of our lives. My, oh my. But isn't God's grace and forgiveness amazing? Because we can look back at that, our time of greatest need, He was ever with us. Before we were saved and even after we're saved. He never, He's never left us. He never left us. He stood by us.

And I know we, I know, you know, I know you've all went through dark times like I've went through dark times. And I felt like I was all alone, did you? We weren't alone, though. How do we make it through some of the really, really dark times? The grace and mercy of God. That's it. That's it. Isn't that amazing? My, oh my, God is so good to us. So we see here, as we saw last week, Paul has been, he's standing before the council now. The Roman chief captain has actually called the council together. See, he has power over them. They're the leaders in Israel, but Israel right now is a nation that's in captivity to the Romans. So that Roman chief captain, he's got power over even the Jews, and he commands them, you come together. So they head to, right? If they said, no, we don't want to, he'd wiped them all out. That's how they dealt with things like that. My.

And what this Roman chief captain, he wants to know why. Why do they want this man dead? Why do they want him dead? He's not done anything that he's seen. He simply spoke to them. about this fellow named Jesus Christ. Because remember, he's a pagan idolater. And Rome let people have freedom of religion as long as it didn't affect and make them rebellious. And so he's just thinking, well, all he did was speak about this Jesus fellow. So he wanted to find out why do they want him dead?

Let's read verses six to nine again. Here's Paul. Now, this is amazing. God gives Paul some wisdom here. And you remember that scripture that talks about we don't need to figure out what we're gonna say when we stand before counselors or when we stand, because God will give us wisdom, right? Here is it in action right here. Here, it's right in action, and it's amazing.

Paul declares he's a Pharisee, which he was in the past, right? And as much as the Pharisees agree with Christianity, he can agree with that, right? So he's not lying to them. And he perceives that half of the group is Sadducees and half of the group is Pharisees. Well, he was a Pharisee, right? He knows, and I'm telling you, there is hatred between these two groups. Because one group, the Sadducees, believe in eat and drink and be merry, get everything you can, because we're gonna die, so get it all while you can, and there's no resurrection afterwards, there's nothing, you're just dead, you're nothing. Which we still see that today, right? People still believe that today. And then the Pharisees, they believed in the resurrection. They believed that we'd live after death. And the Sadducees hated them for that, and the Pharisees hated them for not believing in the resurrection.

So he perceives that half the group are Pharisees and half the group are Sadducees. I don't know if it was the way they dressed, maybe, or if Paul remembered some of them, because, remember, he was a Pharisee. If he remembered some of them, I don't know. The scripture's silent that way. They may have dressed differently, so he might have known that way. But obviously the group, the council, is divided.

Let's read verses six to nine. But when Paul perceives, so now he gets some insight. He's got some wisdom. And who gave him that? God gave him that, right? part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees. He cried out in the council, "'Men and brethren, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.'" Oh, my, there it is. "'Of the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am called into question.'" Now, he's speaking truth there, right? Because his hope is the fact that Christ rose from the grave for our justification. He's not lying to them. His history was he was a Pharisee. And he had a hope in the resurrection. Now the Sadducees hated that.

So here, isn't this amazing? Two enemies have come together in the council to go against Paul. And the Lord spins him like a top. Doesn't he? Because all of a sudden he gives Paul some wisdom to notice that some are Pharisees and some are Sadducees. And he says, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. And I've been bought into question about the resurrection, which he had been. Because part of the preach of the gospel is Christ rose from the dead. Remember, they were all mad at him because he said the Gentiles are included. Well, now they're forgetting that, aren't they? Now the heart of their real issues have been bought up. Right? The things that they get really veminent about has been set before them, the two groups now. They've forgotten. They probably forgot why they even had Paul there. They are spitting mad.

And look at this. And when he had said so, verse 7, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided. Look at that. They were together against Paul, and now they're divided. So we're going to see in verse 11, the Lord tells Paul, you shall go to Rome. You must go to Rome. Well, these guys wanted to kill him. They didn't want him even going to Rome. They wanted to kill him on the spot. Now, the two parties that wanted to kill him, now they're fighting amongst themselves. See how the Lord has them in derision? Like he says in Psalms, that here have his enemies in derision. My, oh my.

Confusion. It's amazing. Look at verse eight. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit. But the Pharisees confessed both. So these are part of their core issues of what they believe. And look at this, and there arose a great cry. Man, they are so mad at each other. And see, what did God have to do for them to get mad? Nothing. Nothing. What does God have to do for us to sin? Nothing. He just leaves us alone. That's the marvel that he saves us because our sin will lead to our destruction. And the marvel is that he saves us from our sins and we have eternal life through him by his blood and righteousness.

We are no different than these two groups in our natural state, whether we were religious or not. We are no different than these folks. And Paul was no different than these folks, except for the grace of God. You see how marvelous God's grace is? We're no different than them, but by the grace of God.

Noah found what? Grace in the eyes of the Lord. We can say Tom found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Karen found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Travis found grace in the eyes of the Lord. See, put your name in there. Mark found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? Put your name in there. You found grace in the eyes of the Lord if you're one of his people. That's the only thing that made us to differ. And it's wonderful. It's marvelous. It makes our hearts sing, doesn't it? That he would have such mercy and grace shown to us, eh, Brother Brian? My undeserving, hell-deserving sinners such as we. My.

So look at this. There arose a great cry, and the scribes that were of the Pharisees part arose and strove, saying, we find no evil in this man. They just wanted to kill him. And now they're going, they're actually claiming his innocence, aren't they? We find no evil in this man. They're so mad at the Sadducees. They're so, all they're seeing is red, like a bull in front of a red cape or whatever. All they're seeing is red. They're just, ah, to those Sadducees. And the Sadducees are the same way with the Pharisees. So much so that now here's the Pharisees claiming Paul's innocent. Oh my. It's amazing. We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God. Now, there's truth there, isn't it? Let us not fight against God.

You know, gospel gets preached, and when we were unbelievers, we'd be like, I don't believe that. Fighting against God. Fighting against God. We've ceased from our fight, haven't we? As Scott Richardson used to say, we've laid down our arms before God, and we've taken sides with God against ourselves. Haven't we? So I'm guilty. I need to be washed in your blood. That's a great question in that song, Sister Jo said, are you washed in the blood? Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing flood? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? My, isn't it wonderful to be washed in the blood of the Lamb? Isn't it wonderful to walk through this life knowing that we're saved and redeemed and that all our sins are forgiven? Does it not cause our heart to cry out in praise? You find yourself saying, praise your name, Jesus. Praise you, hallelujah, for your salvation. That's good. That's wonderful. My, he's so good to us.

Now the Sadducees and the Pharisees, again, they didn't agree. We see that in verse eight. The Sadducees say there's no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. So Paul's not only wise enough to know that Ananias was Israel's so-called high priest, because Paul knew that only Christ was his high priest. after the order of Melchizedek. He wrote that in Hebrews. That Christ is the high priest forever. Forever. So he's speaking truth when he says to that high priest, supposed high priest, that you're not, I didn't know he was a high priest. He's saying it sarcastically almost. Not disrespectful, but just like, I didn't know he was the high priest. My high priest is Christ. Who's our high priest, beloved? Christ. Right? That's our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, the Sadducees denied that there was a resurrection. They were moralistic, but they were get everything you can. Well, you're alive, and then you're nothing. And again, we have the same people with us today. But what a rude awakening for them when they walk through that door marked death. As we saw last week, who's there to meet them? The king of terrors? Death? Oh my. We walk through the door of death and it is but an entrance into glory. It is but an entrance into the presence of the Lord. All because of what the Lord Jesus Christ done. He saved us from our sins. That's the only reason. we get to walk into glory. Oh my. Isn't that amazing? So death is just a doorway for us. We're all going to walk out the door today. Just think, when we die, we're walking into glory. Whoo! My! No wonder Paul said, it's better for me to depart, but it's more profitable for you if I stay. I mentioned that at Sunday school today. My, oh my. Now, in Paul's unconverted state, he was a Pharisee, and as far as the Pharisee's doctrine agreed with the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, he could say, I'm a Pharisee. They believed in the resurrection, he believed in the resurrection. So he says, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope and resurrection of the dead. I am called in question. And there it is. There's the match that lit the powder keg. Right there. And marvel that the Lord gave him the wisdom to do this, to say these things, to say these things.

He knew how hostile the Sadducees were with the Pharisees, and he knew how hostile the Pharisees were with the Sadducees. He was a former Pharisee. And we see that Paul willingly, it's very witty, willingly turned both parties against one another by declaring himself to be a Pharisee. And he knew that they would be quick to support one who claimed to be one of them, especially against them dirty, rotten Sadducees, those scoundrels. I mean, they hated each other. It's evident. It's evident. They did not like each other at all.

And think of this. Let's read verse 10 here. The Lord gives Paul some wisdom here between these dissenting parties. And we're going to see the Roman captain, for the sake of his own position, would once again be forced to rescue Paul. Look at verse 10. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should, look at this, have been pulled apart in pieces, lest they would grab Paul, both sides, and just one side be pulling him towards him and the other side pull him towards him and tear him in pieces. commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle.

Now, when those Roman soldiers came down, those two parties would part like the Red Sea. You know, Tom used to be a soldier. He knows what it's like to be a soldier. If you have authority and you walk in somewhere, people will listen. These Jews, they feared the Romans. Like, I mean, they feared them. Because I told you, these Roman guys, they're professional soldiers. They will not hesitate to put someone to the sword. These legionnaires are the elite. They're the elite of Rome. Not in standing, but as far as fighters. One legion can take on thousands of enemies. They are trained soldiers. And they don't have the regulations that modern soldiers have. Don't fire unless you're fired upon first. They don't have those kind of regulations. They're in a province that's under Roman control and they are the authority.

Look at verse 10 again. When there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force. So they have to literally go down and grab him and bring him out. It's like a little mini riot going on. By force from among them and to bring him into the castle. So Paul's in the midst of them, and they're fighting each other. And may God help us to never lose sight, beloved, of these glorious God-honoring truths that are set before us.

What happens in time was purposed by God. This was all purposed by God. So what happens in time was purposed by God before time began, and executed by our God, who works all things to the counsel of his own will. You say, well, I don't understand. How does this help Paul? Well, number one, he gets rescued. And we're gonna see in verse seven, the Lord's gonna tell him, you're gonna go to Rome, you must, you shall. Now, if God says you must or shall, what's going to happen? It's going to happen, isn't it?

We can say, well, you must not. I kind of have to, I wish that folks were given more authority. Because sometimes you see those poor police officers, and they're saying, well, you can't come in here anymore. And those guys come back, they got no teeth. Folks are mocking authority. And you know, scripture says that God puts those folks in power. And they're used to protect us. Because you know how bad it would be if there was no police force or if there was no army? Praise God for a safe nation. And let us continue to pray for officers and anyone who serves in the Army or Navy or Air Force. Because they're there to help us, to protect us. And they're there by God's decree.

My, oh my. But these guys, they didn't have any restraints. Nope. Oh no. And so God moves this unsaved Roman captain who commanded his soldiers. Look at how God's even, we've seen this multiple times, how he's using unserved or unsaved people to accomplish his will and purpose. He lays on the heart of this captain, send my soldiers down there and protect him. Now, if God didn't want Paul protected, he'd have been torn to pieces. But Paul, in God's divine will and purpose, has to go to Rome.

Number one, the book we're studying in Sunday school, where did he write that from? Rome. The book of Philippians. And I think Thessalonica was the book to the Thessalonians. I believe those two books were written when he was in Rome. I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that they were. My, oh, my. So he's got to go to Rome.

Number one, because there's a bunch of lost sheep there. And remember, when we study Philippians chapter one, some of the Praetorian guards, the elite of the elite, Roman army, some of the Praetorian guards, the Lord saved them. We're going to find out, we're going to find out at the end of Philippians that some of Caesar's household, the Lord saved. My, oh my. So he's got to go to Rome, right? So the Lord puts on this chief captain to send his soldiers down there. He does that. Because in his mind, he was afraid they were going to tear him apart. And they probably would have if it was the Lord's decree for him to die there. But it's not the Lord's will for him to die, is it sister? Not there. He will die. He will die in Rome. But he's not going to die in Jerusalem. My, so down goes those centurions. They're amongst those raging, unbelieving Jews. God moved that Roman captain to give that order, that command, and down they go and rescue Paul. Down they go.

Then look at verse 11 of Acts chapter 23. In the night following, the Lord stood by him. Here we go. Who is he standing by? His sheep. He's standing by one of his blood washed sheep. One of his lambs. One of his lambs. And now look at what he says. Be of good cheer. We're going to look at this later. It appears that Paul was despondent. Maybe he was fearful. It'd be pretty shocking, everything that happened, right? The Jews, remember the Jews? They said they wanted to kill him and that he shouldn't even be on the earth.

And then he goes before the Sanhedrin, and the Pharisees, he gets the Pharisees fired up against the Sadducees, and they want to tear him apart. Sadducees do and the Pharisees why they said well, he's a he's innocent and So much so the Roman the Romans have to come down the soldiers and take them from that midst to save them So we see here the Lord says to him be of good cheer Paul look at that call them by name be a good cheer Paul Look at this, for thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem. We saw that in chapter 22. He stood up and he preached the gospel to those folks, didn't he?

Look at this, so must. Now I'm not sure, Zane, if that's the same Greek word I would think it might be. That's in John chapter three, which is absolute. So must thou bear witness also at Rome. That's God speaking, isn't it? That's not you and I saying, well, hey, buddy. You know, we got you here, now you have to go to Rome. I don't know if you're gonna get killed on the way, but you know, you have to. No, this is God himself, the master of the universe, the ruler of all things, the sovereign of sovereigns, the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And he tells Paul, be a good cheer, Paul. You testify to me here in Jerusalem, you're gonna testify of me in Rome. My, God's got some lost sheep over there, doesn't he?

Faith cometh by hearing, and what? Hearing by the word of God. How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? God is sending Paul to Rome. Is he going on a sightseeing tour? Is he going on a short-term mission trip where he's going to build houses for folks? Paul is going to preach the gospel. of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's going there for. And look, we see that in the words, he testified of me. He testified of me in Jerusalem, which means he preached Christ. And you're gonna testify of me in Rome. Woo, my. See, when God sends a preacher somewhere, he sends him with a message, doesn't he? Yes, he does. I'm determined not to preach anything among you, but Christ and him crucified. Oh, my. That's what Paul, Paul got one message, just like I have one message, just like all the other grace preachers have got one message. Christ died for sinners. Christ redeemed sinners with his blood. Are you washed in the blood? Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing flood? If not, run to him. And if you run to him, it's by the grace and mercy of God. Oh, my.

I love this last verse, though. It's just so incredible. So incredible. Our Lord Jesus Christ, you know what this shows us? This shows us that our Lord Jesus Christ exactly knows what we need. What we need. And that he will supply all our needs through Christ Jesus. And that's all spiritual blessings. I'm not talking about worldly stuff. The Charismatics and the Word of Faith guys get a hold of that and say, look at that. No, that's not talking about that. We looked at that in Sunday school. It's not talking about that. What do you and I need? What's all that a sinner needs, truly? What does a sinner need? To be saved, right? We need Christ. And if you have Christ, I'm telling you, beloved, you have everything. You may be the poorest person in this world. You may be a person of wealth. But all that stuff means nothing without Christ. If you have Christ, you have everything. You are wealthier than Gates and Musk and that Amazon guy. If you have Christ, you're a wealthy person, because you have all spiritual blessings in Christ. All of them. All them promises in the Old Testament are yea and amen in Christ. Sister, we got all those promises in the Old Testament. Yay and amen in Christ. They're ours. They're ours. In Christ. Because of His blood and righteousness. My. It's wonderful. I love that scripture.

It says, So imagine if you could gain all the wealth in the world. What that's saying is, What will profit a man if he gains all the wealth in the world and loses his soul? My, the money is nothing. And then it says this, and what shall you give in exchange for your soul? Now folks say, well, I'm a good person, my good works. No, the scripture says there's none good, no not one. Well, I give money to the church all the time. Well, that's fine. That helps the church. But it doesn't gain you favor with God. The church needs that, and God provides that, doesn't he? But when folks start thinking what they do is more important than Christ, they got it backwards.

Why does Annie faithfully serve with the, seriously, Annie, and I'm not trying to, but with the garden and with the dinners and all that, because she loves Christ and she loves us. We're her family. Why do you guys serve? Neil, all that Neil does and Brian, because they love the Lord. Travis, fixing stuff, doing all kinds of stuff. I've said to Karen and Travis, thank you for doing it. They say, well, we're doing it unto the Lord. And that's what we do, right? That's what we do, all of us. And I know you all do things, and that's all for the glory of God, isn't it? We're not looking for no reward. We're glorifying our King. We're praising our King.

Somebody asked me, they said, well, when are you not doing stuff? I said, never. Being a preacher is 24-7. There's always someone to pray for, right? There's always something to study. There's always someone to get together with, and it's a joy. It's a labor of love. It's a joy to put messages together and to preach them. What an honor. But we all do these things that we do for the Lord unto Him. Because we love Him. Isn't that amazing? My!

So, because we have all blessings in Christ, because He saved our souls through His blood and righteousness, we desire to serve Him now, when we never did before. We do things we wouldn't even think of. Attending and hearing the gospel. That was so foreign to me before I was saved. You mean to tell me that I'm going to love going to church? Yeah. I love it. I get to be with the Lord's people. I get to hear about my king who saved my soul. The one who I had no care for before, but now, oh, he's everything, isn't he?

See, this is why Paul did what he did. We serve with gratitude. And Paul, just like all believers, the Lord stood by him. Think, when you're going through the darkest time, and there may become a very dark time for all of us. I know at our death, it'll be a dark time, right? But it'll be a time of rejoicing for the one who's going home, isn't it? But it'll be a sad time for the family. But what a hope we have. If a believer goes home, they're entering into the presence of the Lord. You know what? We won't be very far behind. Isn't that amazing?

Look at this text. Verse 11. He stood by Paul. Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Paul needed to be encouraged. If Paul didn't need to be encouraged, the Lord wouldn't have said, be a good cheer. Wow, Paul's just like you and I? You mean Paul, you mean, you mean the apostle Paul gets discouraged? Do you mean, do you mean he gets down sometimes? Do you mean, do you mean he's human? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. This proves it, doesn't it? Be a good cheer, Paul. Oh, my. Just the words, the Lord stood by him will cause us to rejoice because we know if he stood by Paul, he's going to stand beside us if we're one of his people. Isn't that wonderful?

Even in the darkest hours, our Lord appears and causes us to know. And I don't mean appears visually. I'm not talking about that. Those folks say they talk to Jesus and all that. My oh my. But he comforts us, doesn't he? He comforts us through his word. He comforts our hearts, comforts our soul. So Paul becomes despondent. Perhaps he feared that he'd made a mistake. Turn over to Acts chapter 21. Maybe he feared he made a mistake when he was warned by his friends not to go to Jerusalem. We don't know what's going through his mind. He could be thinking, he could have been second guessing, thinking, well, why did I come to Jerusalem now? Man, they're going to want to kill me here. He doesn't know what's going to happen the next day, right? All he knows is the chief captain brought him into protection in the castle. That's all he knows. Look at this. Acts 21, verses 12 and 13. And when we heard those things, both we, that's Luke and those who are part of the party, and they have that place beside them not to go up to Jerusalem. He said, don't go, Paul. Don't go, they're gonna kill you. So maybe, we don't know, but maybe he's thinking back going, man, I should have listened to what they said. We don't know. He's obviously despondent. He's obviously down. My, oh, my.

But we see there that God stood by Paul. And look what the Lord says to him. Look at that verse again over in Acts chapter 23. Look at that. The Lord says to Paul, be of good cheer, Paul. For thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. And that's a must from God.

Remember when the Lord said, I must needs go through Samaria? Why did he must needs? Why did he have to go through Samaria? Well, because there was a lady at the well who was one of his lost sheep, and it was her time of love. And then we find out she went back in the city and told folks, and they came flooding out of the city, and many more believed. And then he besought the Lord to stay with him. Please stay with us. We don't want you to go. Well, he has to continue on his journey, doesn't he? He has to continue on his mission. And his mission, he's got his eyes set like a flint to Jerusalem, right? To save his people from their sins.

And remember, that wasn't just something he thought about when he got older. When he was 12, he says, I must be about my father's business. He already has his eyes set to Calvary, beloved. He came here to die, to save his people from their sins, Matthew 121. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall He shall, he shall, he shall save his people from their sins. That's good for an amen, isn't it? Yeah. Oh, we say amen to that. My, it's wonderful. It's wonderful.

My, look at the words. Take note of these words at the end of that verse. So must thou bear witness also at Rome. Paul's being lifted up in the spirit by the knowledge of God's absolute sovereignty here. Don't miss that. With these words, God's declaring his absolute sovereignty. He says, you must go to Rome. You must. And if God says something's gonna happen, what's gonna happen? It's gonna happen. Right? Paul's going to Rome. We have proof of that with the book of Philippians.

My. You must bear witness of me at Rome. Therefore, it must come to pass. If God said it, and the must in the Greek here means just, it means must, just as it means in English. Some people say, well, those words are different. No, you must. Must means must. Like if I say I must go to the store to pick up something that I desperately need, I must go there, right? My. In other words, there's not even a remote possibility that Paul could not have gone to Rome because God himself said he must. God himself said that. So there's no possibility that Paul's not gonna go to Rome. Why? Well, because God had purposed that Paul should go to Rome.

And think of this, if God's purpose could be thwarted, then he's not God, is he? He's not God if his purpose can be thwarted. He'd cease to be God. And everything about Paul, from being conceived in his mother's womb to the last breath he took in this life, and every event that took place while he was here on this earth, was all purposed by God. Isn't that amazing? Your birth was purposed by God. My birth was purposed by God. Where we lived was purposed by God. Where we grew up was purposed by God. Where we heard the gospel was purposed by God. And where we're going to die is purposed by God.

Let us live rejoicing in our King, rejoicing in him. He's always worked things after the counsel of his own will, and he will always do that. He will always do that, beloved. He's on the sovereign throne of power. Lord Jesus Christ is glorified, and he's forever interceding for us.

Now, works-based religionists, they hate the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty. They hate it. They hate it. That's why in their sinful attempt to take Jesus out of office, off and thrown in power, they've conjured up an imaginary Jesus that can't save them unless they let him. Now, that's not the Jesus of the Bible. I'm going to tell you that plainly. The Jesus who's wringing his hands and that can't do anything unless you let him is not the Jesus of the Bible, plain and simple. It's not. And the Lord warned us that there would be other Jesus, other spirit, and another gospel. Paul wrote that in Corinthians. Another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel. And that is the Jesus of works-based religion. That's the spirit that can't do anything unless you let him do it. And the Jesus who can't do anything. And the gospel that tells you you're saved by something you do. That's a false gospel.

The true gospel is salvation is through Christ alone, by his perfect sin atoning work alone. Praise God, he did it all. His grace covers all my sin. Are you washed in the blood? If you are, God's grace covered all your sin. Oh my, it doesn't get any better than that, does it? Doesn't get any better than that. So our Lord tells him here, you must bear witness of me at Rome. You must. You have to. And praise God. Our God.

And what's the testimony that Paul has to give? What's the testimony that Paul has to give? Well, he has to give the testimony that Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God, that he's God incarnated in the flesh, that God became a man. The word of God became a man. This is what he's testifying, that he's the long sent Messiah. He's the only Savior of sinners. And that He bled and died on Calvary's cross, each believer can say, for my sins. He did it for me. My. He suffered for me. And He died for the sins of all His people. A number that no man can number.

And our Lord then, He died and then He rose from the dead, didn't He? And the scripture says that was for our justification. And marvel at this, he's now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and he's our surety, he's our guarantor of our salvation, right? And he's our mediator, he's the go-between between God and man. So if Satan brings accusations against us, which he can all the time, the Lord says, they're under my blood. They're one of mine. And the Father says, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Isn't that wondrous? And this is what Paul's testifying.

And every enlightened child of God, we're faithful witnesses of these biblical truths. God saved us. We've been saved. We've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We've been dipped in that fountain filled with blood, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He saved me from all my sins. I didn't know it, but the Lord showed me, and the Lord saved me, and enlightened me, which is just being born again. And now I'm going to proclaim him. to lost sinners. My, he's the only hope.

And these truths become precious for we who are the people of God. Think of this, not only did the perfect redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ remove all our sins, free from God's sight forever, but because of the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, he remembers our sins no more against us. Yeah? Isn't that wonderful? That's wonderful.

So, Paul must give the same testimony. He must give the same testimony when he gets to Rome. And the Lord's going to send him to Rome. He's going to proclaim the same truth in Jerusalem. or in Rome that he preached in Jerusalem. Christ died for sinners. And he's able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through him. My. The scripture says in Isaiah, look unto me and be saved. This is the Messiah speaking. This is Christ speaking in the Old Testament. Look unto me and be saved. All the ends of the earth. Just look and live. There's life in a look, a look to Christ. Praise the name of Jesus. Isn't he wonderful? Isn't he amazing?

Brother Neil, would you close us in prayer?