Open your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 22. Lord willing, we'll be finishing this chapter today. We're just going right through this book. I have six more chapters left after this, and then we're going to journey over to the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John. I've already been preparing some stuff for that. And that'll be a wonderful study, just as I've learned so much going through this book. I hope you have too. It's been amazing to see God's providential hand at work, taking care of the Apostle Paul and those who are with him. and Barnabas, and Mark, and Luke, and how the Lord's provided for them, and His will has been accomplished. He protected them, brought them to certain places so they can proclaim the gospel, which is just amazing. And remember, again, these are real people. We've seen the unfolding of God's will and purpose in these people's lives. And let us not forget that God's will and purpose is unfolding in our lives for us. and for the world that we live in right now. It's unfolding right before us. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely incredible. And all things are happening for our good and for his glory, even though we don't understand that, do we? But it is, because that's what the scripture says. And I was thinking about this because I heard someone say this this week. They said, well, if the word says that, we believe it. We don't question it. We don't understand it all. We may read something, we don't understand it, but we don't question it, say, well, what's God doing? We don't do that. Say, oh, well, okay, I don't understand it, Lord, but maybe you'll give me some more light on that later on. But I believe it, because you said it, right? My, it's wonderful. The name of the message today is Freeborn, Freeborn. Again, open your Bibles to Acts chapter 22. We'll continue our study in this wonderful book. Lord willing, we'll finish chapter 22. Paul's spoken to the Jews that have been assembled in Jerusalem there. And he's got the wonderful opportunity, the Lord has opened the door for him to speak about the great things that Christ has done for him. So he gives his personal testimony as to how God has saved him in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Messiah. And he's been saved through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's been able to tell them what the Lord has done for them, or what the Lord has done for him and for all his people. those who are the born-again blood-washed people of God. And God has even provided a Roman chief captain, a tribune, to protect him from the mob of Jews who wanted to kill him, remember? They wanted to kill him. As soon as the Roman soldiers came, they backed right off. And since it's mentioned multiple centurions, there must have been two or three hundred men gathered together, because multiple centurions are mentioned, and the centurion is the The keeper of a hundred, a hundred soldiers. He's like a sergeant major. Like a sergeant major. They're the real ones who run the army, right? That's what they say. The centurions were the ones who ran the Roman Empire, the Roman armies. They were the ones that kept everybody in line. And they were common soldiers who'd been promoted to that position. They didn't have many mavericks like we have today, where a maverick in the armed forces is someone who started off as a private and became an officer. In Rome, they had classes. So the officers were from the upper classes of society. And most of the times, they didn't know anything about the military. So the centurions ran the show. They were the ones they trusted. And a good officer would realize and get to know his centurions, and they were ranked from one to 10 in a legion, they would get to know them and trust them and trust what they had to say. So marvel at how these Jews, they don't fear God. Paul's preaching the gospel to them, but they sure fear those Romans when they come up, don't they? And that shows us that we're not to fear man. What man can do to us, we're to fear what God can do to us. Fear he who can both destroy body and soul in hell. I've mentioned that multiple times. I'll keep mentioning that because that's part of this text here. Now, let's stand up and read verses 22 to 26 today. We're going to continue our study here. Look at this. It says, And they gave him audience unto this word. Let's read this together. And then lifted up their voices. Let's start again. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by Scorgen, that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman. Oh my, my, oh my. Again, the scripture says in Matthew 10, 28, And fear not them which kill the body. but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So we're to fear God, not man, not man. Let's look at verses 22 and 23 right here of Acts chapter 22. Now, lest anyone should think that the Jews weren't too mad at Paul, that, well, you know, they didn't want to hurt him. Oh yeah, they did. Oh yeah, they did. Look what these verses say. Look at the veminence in these unbelievers, because that's what they are. They're just unbelievers, just like the Gentiles are unbelievers. They're just unbelievers. This exposes that our hearts in our natural state are desperately wicked. This is what I came out of. This is what you came out of. We were born dead in sin. Look at this. Look at this. Verse 22, and they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, away with such fellow from the earth. Look at that. Away with him. This guy shouldn't even be alive. Why? He's preaching the gospel. Nah, away with him. Look at that. For it is not fit that he should live, So it's enough that they said, away with this fellow from the earth. And then they said, it's not fit for the, this guy shouldn't even be alive. You see the hatred, the veminence towards God's preacher? All Paul is doing is telling them his testimony, how God saved him. Now they know he was their champion. Remember that? He was the Jewish champion. He went around with notes and letters to all over that area and grabbed ahold of Christians and hauled them out of their houses and took them to Jerusalem and threw them in jail. Some of them were murdered. Some of them died on the way. And even at Stephen's death, he consented. They laid their coats at his feet. They used to cheer him on. And now look. Now he's a soldier for Christ. Now he's a preacher of the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that salvation only comes through him. And see, he believed the same way we do, didn't he, sister? By faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone, according to the word of God alone, for the glory of God alone. And they said, This guy doesn't even deserve to be on this earth. Now again, lest we get too high-horsed, right? That's what I came out of. Is it so for you? That's the rock I was hewn from. Isaiah says, never forget the rock you were hewn from. Oh my. We might not have said these same words, but our actions implied the same thing. They're just letting out how they feel, aren't they? Remember, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, the Lord said. It's not what goes into the body that defiles the man, it's what comes out. Oh, my. It's not fit that he should live. And look at this. They got so mad. They cast off their clothes. Back then, they'd ripped their clothes. And then they threw dust into the air. As one would say, they were madder than a white hornet. They were so filled with rage. Because what he was saying, he was saying, you've rejected the Messiah. You killed him. But we know that was all according to God's, right? It was the Romans who nailed him to that cross, wasn't it? According to the foreknowledge of God. They cried, crucify him, crucify him. And then the Romans took him and nailed him to that cross. And you know, he let them drive those nails through his hands. Do you think he could have said, be gone, and they could have disappeared? Do you think he could have called a legion of angels and not wiped out everybody in Jerusalem? He said, I can call 10 legions of angels. I looked that up. That's like 50,000 angels. One angel killed 100,000 men. So what he's saying there is he's saying, I could call 10 legions of angels and wipe the whole world out. Put your sword up, Peter. See the restraint of his power? because he has to die for us, beloved. He has to redeem us, brother Zane. He has to save us with his blood. And so he willingly goes to that cross and saves us, purchases his people from all their sins. And all Paul's doing is preaching the one who did that. He's preaching the almighty one, right? God incarnate in the flesh. That's who Christ is. He's the almighty in the flesh. He's the Savior of His people. We can say, the Almighty saved me. Yeah. People say, what are you talking about? You said Jesus saves. Yeah, the Almighty One, the Word of God. God, the Almighty One. He saved me. Isn't that wonderful? We're not saved by some mere man, because no man could save another man, right? We're saved by the Almighty One. God in the flesh. I remember one time someone told me, they said to me, you say God in the flesh too much. Someone told me that who's no longer with us. You say God in the flesh way too many times. Well, you know what? I'm going to say it more and more and more and more because the one who redeemed us is God in the flesh. And if he wasn't God, Brother Brian, he couldn't save us, could he? Right? Because no mere man can save another man. But because He's God in the flesh, He's sinless. He's spotless. He's pure. He's holy. Can we ever proclaim that Jesus is God in the flesh too much? Brother Travis, when you put a message, you just load it up with that, brother. Just load it up, man. Because that's so true. That's a truth I never get tired of hearing. You know why? because my Savior is the Almighty. That's who saved my soul. Is he saved you? Praise his mighty name. Right? Give him all the glory and honor and praise. Mine. So here they are, they get so mad. Someone might ask, well, why did the Jews get so angry? Why are these Jews so angry when Paul told them that Jesus was the true Messiah? And you know what really, really lit them up? You know what really lit them up? When he said, well, he sent me to the Gentiles. Oh my! Hold on! That's what got them really mad. Because they thought they were the exclusive ones. See, that's why we should never be proud of grace. It's mercy. We've received mercy. The only one who made us to differ from anyone else is God. Right? We ought not to be proud in grace. We'll give God all the glory. All the honor. I don't look down on people who don't believe like me because you know what? Because I was just like them. Now I pray God will give me a door to open to speak to them about the wonderful things of Christ. Right? My. Because that's the only thing that's going to change, is God the Holy Spirit taking the preaching of Christ and changing it, or even just talking to someone about Christ. Right? About the Word. And our concern is for lost souls, isn't it? Whether they be in our community and daily with us, or whether they be out in the internet as the message goes out. Lord, save. Use your message to save your lost people. Build up your saints. Oh my. So they got so angry because they deceived themselves, beloved. See, natural man will be mad when you tell them the truth because they've deceived themselves. When you tell them that salvation is not by anything that you do, it's all by God's grace, well, most folks in religion have deceived themselves thinking that's something they've done, and they get stinking mad when you bring that up. I did. Now it's wondrous. I give God all the glory. My, you saved my soul. It's amazing. It's incredible. Save a wretch like me. So when Paul's preaching that Christ is the Messiah, beloved, he's exposing a false hope. Because remember the Jews were, well, were of Abraham. And last week we looked, Abraham was a pagan idol worshiper. Out of him sprang Israel. And then we found out in Galatians chapter three, that all who believe are Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. Well, who's all who believe? The elect of God, born again by the Holy Spirit of God, because they've been purchased by Christ at Calvary's cross. That's wonderful. Why do you and I believe and someone else doesn't? And they may be better in society, they might be better, stronger. Why do you and I believe and that person doesn't? only because of the grace of God. That's it. There's nothing in you or I, is there? Nothing in us, is there, sister, that would make God love us? But he loved us because it's his will. And he loved us with an everlasting love, unchanging, never changes. Fine. Does anything in the world compare to that? Nothing. Nothing. My. So they all got angry because they deceived themselves into thinking that they were God's children because they were descendants of Abraham. But no one's a child of God because of your parentage. We're children of God because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's what makes it marvelous. Because it has no bearing on us. Right? And the only reason we believe is because God chose us in Christ, sent His Son, the Almighty One, to die and bleed, become a man, right? And redeemed us before we were even born. Purchased us with His blood. And then he sends the holy we're born into this world dead and trespasses and sins we live our life And then at the time of god's love he sends his holy spirit and because you're our sons You're born again by his power and you now cry happy father And everyone who does that he's going to glorify He's going to glorify them we're going to heaven boy And not because of anything we've done but all because of what christ has done It's amazing. Oh, it's absolutely amazing. So, the false hope that the Jews had in the fact that they were descendants of Abraham, and now to hear, oh, the Gentiles? The dogs? The dogs are involved? The scum of the earth? That's what they thought of them. They're part of this? No! Oh, this man's a heretic! No, he's not. Here we are, Gentile saints, saved by the grace and mercy of God. Isn't that wonderful? My, oh my. My. Well, A Gentile be equal with a Jew? Never. That's what they thought in their hearts. Never. Well, we know, Paul writes, there's neither Jew nor Gentile. There's neither bond nor free. There's neither Barbarian, Scythian. We're one in Christ, beloved. So that was a shock for them. That was a real shock for them, because they were the chosen nation in their eyes. They were the ones. They held the oracles of God. They thought they were in because of who they were. But the Lord said, you must be born again, remember? To Nicodemus, a master of Israel. A master of Israel. We still have these same folks that have this spirit of deception within us. The self-righteous religionists. You know, there's only two religions in this world. Do you know that? Do you know there's only two religions? Grace or works? Two, that's it. There's grace or works. You know where it's illustrated? Right from the beginning. Cain and Abel. Two religions, you can boil down all religions in this world to either one being, number one being grace and the others being works. I'm telling you. And there's even some that claim to be Christian, and they're just all works. Because if you add anything to the finished work of Christ, it is no longer grace. Anything you and I have to do, anything, a pinprick of works, it's no longer grace. Turn, if you would, to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4. Who and what made the difference between Cain and Abel? 1 John 3, 12, it says, and wherefore slew he him? Because being Cain, his works were evil, and his brother's righteousness, being Abel, bought the proper sacrifice. Now, who made the difference between Cain and Abel? God and God alone, in his free and sovereign grace, made the difference between Cain and Abel. That's who and what made them to differ. Both came into this world, think of this, both came into this world with Adam's fallen nature. Right? Both of them, same nature, dead in trespasses and sins. Both had the same evil, sinful spirit at birth. Both heard the same gospel from their dad, Adam. And Abel believed God. and believed his gospel. But Cain did not. Now, was Abel smarter than Cain? Nope. Had nothing to do with that, did it? Had nothing to do with who was smarter? No. Was there something that God saw in Abel? Did he look at Abel and go, oh, there's something special in him? Nope. In their natural state, Cain and Abel were both the same. Did he look at Abel and go, well, you're better than Cain? Nope. Nope. Just as Noah, oh my, just as Noah, Abel found grace in the eyes of the Lord, beloved. That's the same for you and I. The only thing that made us different from anyone we know is we found grace in the eyes of God. So that makes it all Him, doesn't it? Salvation's all of the Lord. It's all of the Lord. My God saved Abel by His sovereign grace through the merits of Christ. He was looking forward to the Messiah. Remember when Adam and Eve were clothed in that lamb, right? That lamb was blameless. It didn't sin. And then they were clothed in the skin. Well, that pictured Christ, the sinless one, the blameless one, dying for sinners. And then the skin that they were clothed in pictured the righteousness of Christ, beloved. So now they can stand in the presence of God. My, the innocent one dying for sinners. So Abel was saved by God's grace alone, through the merits of Christ. And any doctrine that teaches otherwise, any doctrine that teaches something man has to do, absolutely destroys, absolutely destroys the meaning of the word grace. destroys it, and makes the cross of Christ meaningless. That's a heavy charge, isn't it? But it's true. And Cain manifested his hatred for Christ in his gospel because God accepted Abel's offering, which again pointed to the Lamb of God. It was a lamb sacrificed who took away the sins of his people, right? The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, came to this world and took away the sins of his people. But Cain's offering, he bought of his own labors, right? God didn't accept it, because it wasn't the proper sacrifice, and it was the works of his hands. See, there's only two religions in this world, beloved. Grace Works you can take all those religions in the world and you can bring them to every one of them will tell you there's something you got to do And I'm going to tell you about someone who did it all And all we do by God-given faith is look to him My what a salvation The Almighty saved me He became a man Gave his life for me And for you, if you're a believer, isn't that wonderful? We can leave here our hearts just singing, can't we? Amidst the chaos of this world. My! Look at this in Genesis chapter 4, starting at verse 3. And in process of time it came to pass that Cain bought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." So he grew these vegetables. And notice something, with vegetables, there's no blood. There's no blood. And without the shedding of blood, it says in Hebrews, there's no remission for sins. Now Abel offered the proper sacrifice, a lamb slain, which pictured Christ, right? Abel brings the works of his hands, and it's a bloodless offering. It's the works of his hands. Look what I've done, right? Oh my. In the process of time it came to pass that Cain bought of the fruit of the ground and an offering unto the Lord. Verse 4, Genesis 4, 4. And Abel, he also bought of the first things of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. He bought the proper sacrifice. See, he bought the sacrifice that pictured Christ. Excuse me, that pictured Christ. But unto Cain and to his offering, he had no respect. Why? Because it's all works. It's all the fruit of his labor. And Cain was very wroth in his countenance. How were those Jews when Paul told them, you just being sons and daughters of Abraham doesn't save you? Have you ever experienced that when you tell someone about Christ? and that he's the only way? Brother Steve told me, he said, I was talking to him one time, I said, you watch, you mentioned to some of your friends and your family about Christ, and he said, it happened. They didn't like what I had to say. I said, yeah, they don't. Why? We're just proclaiming Christ the only Savior of sinners. Well, they don't think they're sinners, and they have a false refuge. They have a false refuge. See, these Jews are saying, well, because I'm a son of Abraham, then I'm in. No. There's neither Jew nor Gentile in the body of Christ. It's salvation through Christ alone. It's always been that. And that shows us here in this offering. He's offering the proper sacrifice, able is. A blood sacrifice pitches Christ. Look at that. But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou didst well, look at that, if you'd bought the proper sacrifice. See, people are gonna face God thinking, oh, I'm bringing the proper sacrifice, look what I've done. And God will say, I never knew you. But Lord, I did all this? I wasn't a murderer? And I gave to the church? And I helped the poor? And I did all these things in your name? I, I, I. And we say, Him, Him, Him. Look what He's done. I done nothing. Look what he's done. And any good that I've done, it comes from him. And he gets the glory. And I don't even know when I'm doing it. Right? Remember what he said, sister, to those folks in Matthew chapter 22? They said, when did we do these things, Lord? Well, when you gave one of mine a cup of water, when you went and visited them and they were sick or they were in prison, you went and visited them. My, oh, my. Isn't our God amazing? Isn't he incredible? If thou doest well, shall thou not be accepted? If we trust Christ, shall we not be accepted? Yes, we will. If one rejects Christ, they will not be accepted. See how the truth of the gospel is even being brought forth out here, drawn forth in the scriptures? If thou doest not well, sin lieth at thy door. Wow. See, sin doesn't lie at our door because it's been bought and paid for by the Lamb of God. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my, what a Savior! What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ our Lord! And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. Now we know why those Jews wanted to kill Paul. Because he's saying Christ is the Lamb of God. He's the only hope for glory. And they said, but we're Abraham's children. It don't matter. You have to come to God through Christ. He's the only way. The only way. The only Savior. Jesus Christ our Lord. I am the way, he said. the truth and the life. No man or woman cometh unto the Father but by me." He's the only way. Oh my. Now Cain saw that his offering was not accepted by God and it destroyed his false hope, didn't it? It infuriated him. So much that his hatred for God, for the Christ of God and the true gospel of Jesus Christ, manifested itself. How? When he murdered his own brother? That was his hatred for God and his hatred for Christ being all manifested right there. And we see in our pastors, those Jews, they said it ain't even fit for this man to be on this earth anymore. See their hatred for God is being displayed, but they're the Jews. They don't believe on the Messiah. It doesn't matter if they were Jews or Gentiles. They're not believing on the crucified one. They're not trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, they are unbelievers. My. And it infuriated, again, it infuriated Cain so much that he murdered his own brother. in that same spirit of Antichrist, because that's what it is. Antichrist is a spirit. It's against Christ. That's what Antichrist means. Antichrist means against Christ. So anything that's not for Christ is Antichrist. The religions that we can say right off the bat, we can look and say the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses and they're Antichrist, right? I would even go as far as say the Catholic Church is anti-Christ. Any false religion that does not promote Christ and does not lift Christ up, and I'm not sorry to say this because I came out of that false religion of Roman Catholicism, any religion that says you've got to do something to be saved is anti-Christ because it's against Christ. And remember John said there's Antichrist among us already, being false teachers, preaching works. Antichrist, Spurgeon and Gill and several others used to think that Antichrist was a spirit. I believe that too. It's the spirit of Antichrist, the spirit of man being thinking that he can usurp God. Salvation's on the Lord, beloved. Period. Period. End of story. So that same spirit of Antichrist that was in Cain is actually in all unregenerate men and women since Adam fell. And just like Cain, this mob of unbelieving Jews, that Paul was witness to manifested their hatred for Christ and their hatred for his gospel by saying, it ain't even fit for this man to be alive. And like Paul, we can give our personal testimony to those around us who do not believe, the unbelievers around us. And before our conversion to Christ, we can talk about God even protected me before I was saved. And He's still taking care of me now. He's my King. He's my Savior. He's my Redeemer. He changed my life. Because of His life-giving power, I'm born again. I've been given faith to believe on Christ. See, we can tell folks that, can't we? Oh, yeah. I've been set free from the prison house of sin. Have you? It doesn't have dominion over me. I still battle with it all the time, but it doesn't have dominion that it once had. My. And as soon as we say something like that, that destroys a religious person's false hope. Because their false hope is in themselves. Well, we are not to look to ourselves. We look to ourselves, we're hopeless. Vicki and I were talking about how we were in religion, this morning we were talking about it, and how we had no peace. And then we were talking about the peace that passes all understanding. And we had no peace. We always felt like we had to do something. I didn't read my Bible enough. I didn't pray enough. I didn't witness enough. I'm not happy all the time. I gotta have more joy. I found out that joy comes just by resting in Christ. You find that? Just by looking to Christ. I can be having the worst day around me and I'll be like, oh, my King, oh, you are so wonderful. Just by looking to Him. It's true, isn't it? Because He's the source of our hope. He's the source of our joy. He's the source of our peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Tell a moral law-abiding person who's never darkened the door of a church building, except maybe to go to a wedding or a funeral, that his good will not outweigh his bad, and that he will not be allowed into heaven, because he's a sinner. And in his own opinion, he's a good person, but he's not a good person. And watch the hatred fly. Just watch it. I've seen it. Have you? Oh, my. Tell a self-righteous religionist, one who believes that baptism saves, say, oh, baptism never saved anyone. Oh, and watch the hatred fly. Tell a devout Catholic, a dedicated Baptist, a zealous Presbyterian, that church affiliation has absolutely nothing to do with God's salvation, and watch the hatred begin. Anyone who thinks salvation's in the church, there ain't no salvation in the church. We are a bunch of believers who come together, and our salvation's in Christ. The church is the building we come to. We love it, just the building, though. The church is you and me. The ecclesia, the called-out ones, the ransomed ones, the purchased ones, the hidden ones. Scripture calls us to, isn't that beautiful? Hidden in Christ. Oh my, that's wonderful, beloved. Wonderful. My, oh my. And people get mad at you just for telling them the truth. That's what's happening here. Paul is telling them the truth, beloved. He has such a burden for his own countrymen that he said, he said, Lord, if you save them and damn me, that's okay. We don't understand that, do we? But now think of it with our kids. We can understand that then, can't we? Oh, yeah. He had such a love for his countrymen. He probably relished this opportunity to proclaim the gospel to them, beloved. He had such a burden for them. My. Let us show grace and mercy to those who get angry with us, even when we tell them the truth. because they are where we were, spiritually dead and hopeless, unregenerate, and we were just like them. And God himself, in his sovereign grace and mercy, he bestowed upon Abel and upon all of his chosen blood-washed children in every generation since, makes the difference between them and us. That's it. That's it. The only difference between Cain and Abel Wasn't because what Abel did it was because of the grace of God In Abel that made him offer the proper sacrifice Right And the reason he offered the proper sacrifice because he was a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ you look into the Messiah That's pictured in that sacrifice And why are we saved? For Christ's sake, that's why. Because it pleased God to save us. And Jesus Christ took care of our sin debt, beloved, all those who were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world by the supreme sacrifice of Himself. Of who? The Almighty One. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate. By His supreme sacrifice, His marvelous, amazing grace, and His blood and righteousness, Only that's made the difference between us and anyone else, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful that God saved us according to his mercy? And then we find out he did it before the foundation of the world. Chose us in Christ, me, a rile, wretched, vile sinner. Praise his mighty name. Oh my. Now let's read verses 24 to 28. Oh my. Just as soon as that angry mob of Jews started crying out against Paul, he said, away with such fellow from the earth. It's not fit that he should live. This guy should be murdered. He should be killed. That's what they're saying. Just kill him. My this is this is a chosen vessel God. They're talking about You know what they can't destroy him you know why cuz you got to go to the Gentiles God's got his protected hand on him just like he has on every one of us and Look at this, 24 to 28. The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by a Scorgen that he might know whereof they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? He just dropped a bomb, beloved. He just dropped a bomb. We're going to find out why. When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain and said, Tahid, what thou doest? For this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And chief captain answered, With a great sum I obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free, boy. Now, soldiers who served in the Roman army, who were not of Roman descent, could purchase their citizenship. That was a privilege of being part of the Roman army. And they could purchase their citizenship. Obviously, this captain had purchased his citizenship. He wasn't born a Roman. But Paul says, I'm free born. I'm free born. You talk about drop a bomb in the midst of the centurion as the chief captain. They thought he was just a nobody, some Jew. And they figured, when it says they, they figured they'd scourge him, they, what they, that's beat him. So they were beat, they're going to beat him to find out, to find out, Okay? Why the Jews are so mad at him? He probably just keeps saying, because I'm preaching Christ. Because I'm preaching Christ. And eventually they probably would have got tired and killed him. Because he's just a Jew to them. He's nothing. They bind him up right away. What's he done? He's been standing there talking to the Jews about salvation in Christ alone. And then now he's mentioned the Gentiles are saved through Christ alone. And those Jews, those unbelieving Jews, they got so mad, they said, he ain't even fit to be on this earth. So this chief captain's probably scratching his head going, why are they so mad at this fella? That's obviously in the text, right? Why are they so mad? Well, we're gonna go beat him and we'll get the answer out of him. My. That's how they did things back then. They didn't mess around, did they? But look at this. Look at God's sovereign protecting power. at work. Again, using an unsaved Roman chief captain to protect Paul. Look at verse 24. The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. So now Roman law forbid, it forbid the binding and beating of a Roman citizen. So when they bound him with thongs, they broke the law. Note they didn't ask him if he was a Roman. They just thought, oh, he's a Jew. They broke the law just like that. And they're Roman citizens too. And they're terrified now. Because a Roman citizen is never to be bound and never to be beaten until they have a fair trial. That was the law. That was the law. And look at verse 25, and as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? Look at that, he's not condemned of anything, is he? Has he had a trial? No. And notice he dropped that bomb, that is a Roman. Now think of this, this is what blew me away. Paul tells him that he's a Roman. He points out that it's unlawful to beat a Roman without a proper trial. And the centurion, what does he do? He goes right back to the chief captain. I'll tell you, he made haste. He made haste right back to that chief captain because he feared what could happen to them if they beat a Roman who had not been found guilty by Roman court. They could be executed themselves. They could be in deep trouble just for binding them up. And this is a surprising question for the centurion. They've already bound him up. It's too late. They've already bound him up. And they're just getting ready to beat him, to get an answer from him about why the crowd's so angry. And look at verse 26. We see the Roman centurion, man, he runs back to that chief captain, look at this. When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain saying, take heed, what thou doest for this man is a Roman. Boom. There's the bomb going off. Now the chief captain, what's he do? He going right back, he's making haste to Paul now. He's gonna inquire at Paul about his citizenship. See, Roman citizenship was a great honor, just as American citizenship is a great honor. Right? Look at this. Acts 22, verse 27. Look at 27. Then the chief captain came and said unto him, tell me, art thou a Roman? And he said, yea. In other words, he said, yes I am. Yes, I am. Paul already told the chief captain, remember, that he was a Jew of Taurus. He already told him that, and Taurus was a Roman city. But he said nothing of himself being a Roman until now. So the chief captain probably thought, ah, he's just a Jew that moved to Taurus. Ah, no, he's not. He's a Roman citizen. And we see now that the chief captain desires that Paul would tell him the whole truth now. Whether he was a Roman or not. And Paul said, yay. Then we see in verse 28, now here's the chief captain, that he was not a Roman citizen. We see in this text that he's not a Roman citizen by birth. Paul's a Roman citizen by birth. He's free born. He's free born. And we see that the chief captain purchased the right to be a Roman citizen by paying a large sum of money to obtain that right, and that's what they did. They served so many years in the legions, and then they paid X amount of money to become a Roman citizen. And then they had all the same rights as any other Roman citizen. It was a great, great value to them. And look at verse 28. And the chief captains answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was freeborn. Uh-oh, there's another bomb. Oh, my, Paul just keeps dropping these things in front of him. Paul was a freeborn Roman citizen. He was born in the city of Taurus. which had its freedom given to it by a man by the name of Mark Anthony before Paul was born. Now marvel at this. This is the part that I marveled about putting this together. Marvel at this. Before Paul's already born, right? Taurus receives Roman, is brought into the Roman Empire, right? Before Paul's born. And then Paul's born there. So he's not only a Jew, he's a Roman citizen now. He's freeborn. Now that might not have meant much to him growing up, but it sure means a lot now, doesn't it? Do you see how God, in his sovereign providence, had Paul's relatives move to the city? Mom and Dad moved to Taurus, and he was born right there. Isn't that amazing? So he could say to the centurion, I was free, boy. And we know that that Roman citizenship opened doors for Paul to speak the gospel. Because he's gonna go to Rome. He's gonna go to Rome and proclaim Christ, beloved. Why? So before Paul's even born, Mark Antony makes the city of Taurus part of the empire, all according to God's providence. And this all came to pass before Paul's birth. Now, Paul's parents were citizens of Taurus. Therefore, they were Roman citizens. Even though Paul was a Jew, he was a Roman citizen because he was born in a Roman city. Now, the same holds true of those right here in the United States. You all who are born in the United States are free-born Americans. Annie, you and I are free-born Canadians, right? That's our country of birth. Free-born. You're free-born Americans. If we were in that time, they'd call you free-born Americans. You're American citizens. And you have all the rights because of your birth. The same with Paul here. He had all the rights of a Roman citizenship, a Roman citizen, because he was born within the empire. all by the providence of God. Isn't that amazing? And think of this, you were born here, and you lived your life wherever you were raised, and you're brought here now, and here we are gathered together, and I'm preaching the gospel to you all. Got two Canucks with you. But that's all by the providence of God, isn't that amazing? How he's brought us all together? Absolutely amazing, isn't it? all according to his will and purpose. And the same thing's unfolding here. We're seeing the unfolding of God's will and purpose here. Oh my. Now in verse 30 of the last verse, we're gonna add that to next week's because that goes more with the next chapter. But let's read verse 29 here. It said, then straightaway they departed from him, which should have examined him, which means they were gonna beat him. And the chief captain also was afraid. Look at that. He's afraid. He's afraid, beloved. After he knew that he was a Roman because he had bound him. So just because he bound him, now he's afraid. It would have been even worse if he had to beat him. My. So the chief captain and the centurion, instead of examining Paul by scourging him, they walk away with their hearts gripped with fear, gripped with fear, because they bound him. This gives us a little bit of an understanding of how serious it was, how serious it was to break Roman laws, even though here they are Roman soldiers, right? They served the empire. And we see how afraid they are that they just bound him with thongs. I don't know if they bound him behind his back or in front, but they bound up his hands. And they're just, you know, they're terrified. We bound a Roman citizen. Oh my. Their hearts are gripped with fear. And like everything that happens in time, Paul, being a free-born Roman citizen, was purposed by God according to the will of God before time began. Isn't that amazing? It was purposed by God, Brother Travis, that all of us would be here today in eternity. And here we are. My, oh my, isn't that amazing? Hearing about our great God, our Savior, our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Almighty One. God save my soul. Praise His mighty name. My. And these Roman soldiers would have brutally scourged Paul. They'd have beaten him. Just to find out why that angry mob was so mad at him, and he would have kept giving them a true report concerning the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm preaching Christ. I'm preaching the Messiah. I'm preaching the Messiah. That's why they got mad, and they kept beating him. But God had other plans, didn't he? And according to the province of God, he's born in Taurus, a free-born man. He just says, I'm a Roman, and I'm free-born. That's the end of that, isn't it? Now they're trying to figure out how to get out of this mess they got themselves into. This whole situation will be obvious to any born-again, blood-washed child of God that nothing could have kept Paul from going to Rome. He was on his way to Rome and nothing was gonna stop him. We see that, don't we? We see that. God had purposed that Paul would go to Rome. He told him, you're gonna go to Rome. You're gonna go to Rome. My. And so he's preaching that salvation for sinners is only through the blood and righteousness of Christ. He's preaching true liberty before God and man through Christ Jesus. He's preaching Christ alone sets his people free by the power of his sovereign grace from sin. He's preaching that the Holy Spirit of God regenerates dead sinners to know Christ, gives them faith to believe on him. And you know what, beloved? The moment a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, then they begin to enjoy a real long and lasting freedom, don't we? We're truly free-born when the Holy Spirit regenerates us, aren't we? Yeah? We were dead in trespasses and sins, bound up. We had no liberty. We were captive to sin. Now we have liberty. Free-born by the Holy Spirit of God. Oh my. In Christ, we're free from sin. We're free from Satan. We're free from the law. Christ has freed us from the guilt and condemnation and dominion of sin. Rejoice, beloved of God, rejoice, as our Savior has delivered us from the power and the tyranny of Satan and of sin. Oh. We're free. In salvation, Christ dethrones the devil by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. He enters into the hearts of His elect, binds the strong man, takes possession of the house. And the Son of God has freed His people from the Mosaic law, because He fulfilled it in our room and place, through His blood and righteousness. The New Testament never addresses God's saints as people under the law. Do you know that? Isn't that amazing? but always as people free from the law, free from the statutes of the Old Testament, free from the judicial law, free from the ceremonies of the law, free from the bondage of the moral laws. Free, free, free. The Son shall set you free. You'll be free indeed. And believers in Christ have no covenant with the law. No. No condemnation by the law. No constraint from the law, and no obligation to the law, because Christ fulfilled it all in our room and place. In the lives of God, saints are now not governed by the rules and regulations of the law of God. Now, we don't want to go contrary to it, do we? But love constrains us now. The love of Christ. Oh, we are set free. We've been given freedom to worship God now. Through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have freedom to go to the throne of God boldly and find grace to help in time of need. Also, we as the born-again, blood-washed people of God in Christ, we're free from the fear of death now, aren't we? That's just the doorway now. It's just the doorway into glory. It's lost its sting. Before the Lord saved me, I was terrified of death. I don't fear death now. I'm going home. I don't know how the Lord's going to take me out, but I know he already knows that, right? And we don't have to fear that, do we? Think of that. We go from the land of the dead, right? People dead and trespassed the sins all around, people who hate God. to the land where everyone loves the king and everyone worships the almighty and we all say unto him who redeemed us with his blood saved us from our sins praise his name wouldn't that be glorious my oh my what a wonderful time that will be amen and amen brother travis can you close us in prayer