So open your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 22. Last week, we looked at verse 14, where we saw the truth of God's unconditional election. That was a wonderful time, wasn't it? Looking at that and seeing that there was no cause in us, nothing in us that caused God to choose us. But it was all according to his free grace, his sovereign will and purpose. It was wonderful. And just like Paul was a chosen vessel, so is every one of God's people. If you're a believer in Christ, you're a chosen vessel, beloved. That's incredible. And it's God who chose you before the foundation of the world. And I love what the Lord said, marvel not, or that part where he says, you have not chosen me, but I've chosen you. When were we chosen? Before the foundation of the world. It's absolutely incredible. So let's read, let's stand up and read. We're gonna read verses 14 to 16 together. Let's stand up and read these three verses here together. Acts chapter 22, verses 14 to 16. And he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now, whiterest thou, arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. My, what a beautiful portion of Scripture. Now again, during our last study, from Acts 22, We left off with verses 14 and 15. Saul of Tarsus is speaking of when he was a brand new Christian. He is being arrested by the Lord on the road to Damascus. And remember, what we're reading here are real narratives. These are real people. Paul's a real person. We're getting a glimpse into his daily life through the acts of the apostles, too. He's real. All these characters are real. They lived and they died. They struggled with sin and they trusted Christ, just like we do. They had troubles just like we have in this world. But their eyes were focused upon Christ, just as it is true for we who are the born-again, blood-washed people of God. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. He had just experienced the miracle of the new birth. Now, I mentioned this last week that some people say, well, you shouldn't talk about election to young believers, because it's strong meat. Yeah, it is strong meat. It is. But what did Paul say in our earlier studies? He said, I held nothing back, didn't he? And look what God does. God has Ananias tell him, a brand new believer, you're a chosen vessel. And then if you read 1 Thessalonians, it talks about no unbeloved brethren, your election of God. That's a very young church. That's a brand new church. And he's writing to them. Young believers, telling them this great truth. So it's not a truth we should hold back on. It's a wonderful truth, because as Christ said, if he hadn't chosen us, we'd never choose him. It's a blessed truth. It can bring us great contentment in this world, and it can bring us great comfort in this world. As we looked at in Sunday school, I will never, I will never, I will never, I will never leave thee. Why? Because we're his chosen people. We're the ones he shed his blood for. All right? My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I lay down my life for the sheep. So marvel, if you're born again today, marvel that you're a sheep of God, because I'm still marveling, are you? I'm still in awe and wonder, and I'm sure Paul, who was a persecutor of the church, He said, he's a blasphemer, and oh yeah, that's all of us. Persecutors of the church, that was us too. But now he's saved. Now he's born again. Now he's preaching Christ. And this blessed truth of election, unconditional election, was set forth. And we centered again last week on the doctrine of God's unconditional election. And we saw that salvation is entirely of God. It's entirely of God. Jonah wrote in Jonah 2, 9, salvation to the Lord. That means from beginning and everything in between and to the end. He's the author and the finisher. And we believe that by God's grace, don't we? We believe that. And we are thrilled that God chose us in Christ because we never would have chosen him. And this all happened, this was initiated before the foundation of the world. And it was not dependent on human choice or merit. That's amazing. God would choose a sinner such as I? And we looked at corresponding passages, Ephesians 1, 4-6, and 2 Thessalonians 2, 13-14, which affirm that God chose his people in Christ by sovereign grace in eternity. It pleased him to do so. That's the only reason he did it, because it pleased him to do so. That's outstanding, isn't it? How come so many people out there in the world, you passed by, you drove with them on the roads today coming here, and how come you turned in here and came to hear the gospel and they just kept driving by? Because God made us to differ. That's the only reason. Because we were chosen by God in Christ before the foundation of the world. And now we love the gospel. See the people driving by? And we were there, right? We were part of that. It has no value. They say, there's nothing there for me. They see no value in the gospel. But that's where God saved us from. That's where he took us from. So we marvel at this wonderful doctrine of God in Christ. that he chose a people based solely according to his eternal will and purpose. That's it. That's it. And we looked at how God's unconditional election of a people in Christ and eternity fills the born-again blood-washed believer with awe and wonder. With awe and wonder. My, with gratitude. and we are amazed that God saved us that God saved us now we also looked at the former persecutor of the church Paul and how he was a chosen vessel illustrating that no one in their natural state seeks God. He did not seek God. He had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, right? Which means he didn't know him. Thomas, we talked, he wasn't revealed to him yet. But when he was revealed to him, he said, Lord, Lord, my, And we saw how God's unconditional election of a people in Christ exalts God's glory. It lifts God so far up and brings man into the dust. Salvation is all of the Lord. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. It's secured by Christ's atoning sacrifice, his perfect sin-atoning work, secured eternal salvation for his people, and supplied through the Holy Spirit's regenerating work by his almighty power. See, we don't have the power to regenerate ourselves. We don't have the power to save ourselves. But the one who saved us is the one who has all power, and the one who has the will to save us. according to his purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. My. So what What profound joy can fill our hearts, what reverence can fill our hearts for God's eternal unmerited grace shown to we who are sinners by birth, nature, and choice in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved for Christ's sake to glorify God. Let's read verses 14 and 15 again of Acts 22. And he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will. See, before we're saved, we don't know the will of God. And see that just one. We can't see Christ by faith when we don't have any faith. Now, Brother Tom, we see him by faith. We see the just one, the sinless one who died in our room and place. My, that thou shouldest know his will and see that just one and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth while we hear it through the preaching of the word. For thou shall be a witness unto all men of what thou has seen and heard. Now think of this. Think of how Paul's still a witness. Here we are. 2,000 years later, reading about Paul, and he's still a witness to us. He's a witness to the great things God can do and does for his people, in and through his people, and for his people, his great sacrifice at Calvary's cross. In Ananias, God's ordained preacher spoke these words to Saul, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee. that thou shouldest know his will, know the reason why God sent his son to save sinners such as we, and see that just one, oh, with the eye of faith to see Christ, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. See, we can't preach what we don't know. We can't tell others about Christ if we don't know him. And Christ said that to Nicodemus. He said, we speak what we know. And he said, are you a master of Israel and you know not these things? Now, that's only by the grace of God that we know these precious truths. By the revelation of God, it's amazing. And see, we see there were no his will. His will is to save sinners through Christ Jesus, chosen sinners. And that's been accomplished, hasn't it? So we preach and proclaim a work already done. Isn't that amazing? Oh, it's absolutely wonderful. And what this means here, Paul, he's a pattern to them which should believe hereafter on him, on Christ, to life everlasting. He's a picture of we sinners and how we're saved by the grace of God in Christ, born again. He was a hater of God, just like we were in our natural state. We might not have said, I hate you, God, but by our works and our actions and our sins, we were professing that. So all of God's born-again blood-washed people were chosen by God the Father through the gift of true saving faith, which is given to us, not of works, right? For by grace he is saved through faith, and that not of yourself. Well, that means not of me. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." Isn't that amazing? We've been ordained under good works, and we don't even know what they are. My. All of God's born-again saints were chosen by God the Father through the gift of true saving faith. We were given true saving faith to know God's will now in our salvation, and to see the glory of God through the face of our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to hear his voice speaking to our hearts through the reading of the word, through the preaching of the word, how it comforts our hearts. And it's true that Paul saw Jesus Christ with his physical eyes, and he heard the audible voice of the Savior, which were qualifications for God's chosen apostles. But Paul also received the gift of faith, and that faith is the same faith we receive. You know, we have the same faith, Paul. We have the same faith, Peter had. We have the same faith spurging ahead. And they still have it, don't they? They're looking to Christ. That which they hoped to see now is face to face. Their hope has become sight. My. But we're all given the same faith. And we realize how weak our faith is, how weak their faith was. Think of that. We always picture the apostles and Paul and all them, oh, they never doubted nothing, they never. Paul says, oh, wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of death? He's just like us, beloved. We tend to forget that, don't we? These are real living people going through living life in this world, just in a different time. Same world, same struggles, Right? Same things that we can suffer with, they suffered with. We're no different. We have a few more gadgets now to distract us, but I think they had gadgets and things to distract them then too, right? Not phones like we have, but things that distracted them. The world. My. Paul received the gift of faith just like we did. Our sovereign Lord gives faith to all his people. When we're born again, when we're regenerated by the Holy Spirit, he gives us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he gives us repentance before God, right? Where you find faith, you'll find repentance. My. And like we brought out in our last study, Paul was a faithful witness of all that he had seen and heard for the glory of God, for the glory of the risen, glorified Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's public profession of what he had seen and heard began with these words, for man and I as faithful preacher, for man and I as God's faithful preacher. And now, why tarriest thou? Look at verse 16. And now, why tarriest thou? Rise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Why are you sitting here? Get up and be baptized, and head on out. Right? Oh, my. Now, something here, this verse has been used to build a whole false doctrine. This verse has been used by the Church of Christ, who believe that when you're baptized, you receive the Holy Ghost, that you're born again. That's a false doctrine. That's a false doctrine. That's another gospel. That's another Jesus. That's another spirit. The ones Paul warned us about in Corinthians. Because what does it center on? It centers on you or I being baptized. That's a work. That's a work. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. See, they've taken baptism and made it a work. Made it something that you have to do. And think of this, if that was true in this verse, that would go contrary to all the teachings that Paul has taught in all the other books that he wrote. That would go contrary to the Gospels. That would go contrary to Isaiah when he says, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Because they actually believe that baptism saves. That's a false doctrine. That's a false gospel. And I know, I used to know folks, sadly, that were trapped in that back when I was out in Oregon. And I tried talking to them and they would have nothing of it. And we still pray for them, don't we? The Lord will take them out of that. Because it's deception. It's a false gospel. Anything that tells you you have to do something to be saved is a false gospel. Because Christ did it all. He did it all. So Ananias is not telling Paul that baptism would remove his sins, as a preacher sent from God would never teach that. Never teach that. No preacher sent by God will ever teach that baptism will take away your sins. Not one. Now, Satan's transformed into an angel of light, right? The scripture says, it isn't surprising that his preachers, his preachers, Satan's got preachers? Oh yeah. they're preaching false doctrine all around this world, would be transformed into supposed preachers, preaching the gospel. See, who gets the glory if baptism saves? Who gets the glory? Man does, doesn't he? Because they have to do that to be saved. Now, that's wrong. If a man tells you you have to do anything to be saved, He's peddling the false gospel to you. And isn't it joyful? This is where I can find such contentment, such joy, such peace in this world, knowing that Christ did it all. That I just look to him for salvation. As my daughter said, it's that simple, dad? Yes. Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth. For I am God. Over in Isaiah, I am God. He's the one true living God. My. So no preacher sent by God would ever preach or ever teach that baptism or anything that man does would remove our sins from God's sight. The only thing that can remove our sins from God's sight is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of the Lamb, the sent one of God, sent by God to save us from our sins. The blood of Christ is what cleanses God's elect from all our sin. The blood of Christ obtained eternal redemption for us, the scripture says in Hebrews. He obtained it. How? By the shedding of His blood. See, without the shedding of blood, there's no eternal redemption. My Without the supreme sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, no one would be saved, no one would be sanctified, no one would be redeemed. But because his sacrifice was so great and so God-satisfying, we who are the born-again, blood-washed people of God will be in the presence of God forever, clothed in Christ's perfect, spotless righteousness. And we're saying, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast redeemed us. It's Christ who redeemed us, isn't it? Oh, it's wonderful. We just look to our King. Christ is sanctified and perfected forever. All those whom Christ died for, in any doctrine that does not give our great triune God all the glory and salvation, is a false, false gospel. I don't care how sincere the person is. It's false. Now, there are self-righteous religionists who falsely teach, again, that baptism is what saves a sinner. And they take a portion like this, take a portion of this in Acts 22, 16, out of context. Most false religion is built upon people taking verses out of context. And they build a whole doctrine around one verse. They build a whole religion system around one verse, such as the church of Christ. This verse here, they take it and they build their whole system around it without looking at how by grace are we saved through faith and that not ourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So I guess in their view, when Christ said it is finished, he didn't say it's finished. That's what they have to say. Because supposedly baptism saves. We say, no, it is finished. And we enter into the waters of baptism professing Christ and the great things he's done for us. Right? He saved our souls. He saved me. And I want to tell everyone, not for my glory, for his glory. I want to let everyone know, look what the Lord's done for me. Look what he done. Oh my. And our Lord's words come to mind here with people who take a verse out of context with no regard to clear biblical teaching of salvation by grace alone, through Christ alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Our Lord said to some unbelieving Jews, and this can be applied to people who believe that if there's something you have to do to be saved, he said this, you do error not knowing scriptures nor the power of God. They think that man can save themselves. Just pray this prayer. Just walk this aisle. Ye do err not knowing the scriptures, which proclaim that Christ is the only way. All the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to Christ, right? You do err not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Remember what God said, God in the flesh said, he told those folks, he says, you can't save yourselves. But with God, all things are possible. So how can we be saved? Only by the power of God. Isn't that wonderful? Only through Christ. Only through our King. Only through our King. And those who believe in salvation by what man's done or by what man is, are no different than the Judaizers who came into the churches of Galatia and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. See, false religion always puts before men and women something you have to do to be saved. Grace says it's already done. Christ finished the work. Look to him, sinner friend. Look to him, we who are the saved saints of God. Look to him who has accomplished our salvation, who's finished it all. And you know, false religions are no different than the angry mob of unbelieving Jews that Paul's getting to speak to. They're no different. No different. They're religious and lost. And those unbelieving Jews, they thought they were God's children because they were Israelites, descendants of Abraham. They said, Surely, we're God's people. We come from Abraham. Turn, if you would, to John 1. John 1. Look at this, what John wrote here. Look at this. John 1, verse 11 to 14. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. So he came unto the nation of Israel, and they did not receive him. But as many as received him, so as many as believed on him, look at this, this is wonderful, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. See, we have no power to save ourselves. Look at it, isn't that beautiful? This is for every believer. This is amazing. To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, okay? So we're not saved because our parents were saved or because someone in our lineage was saved years ago, no. Nor of the will of the flesh. We can't will ourselves into heaven. That means by works there. Right? Nor of the will of man. So what's God saying? Your free will can't save you. You suppose it's free will. Because it's in bondage to our nature. I believe Christians are now free. That's why we struggle so much. A.W. Pink said, now the believer has free will. Now we can choose things. Before we were so governed by our dead nature, by our sins. Now we're actually like, oh my, I don't want to do that. That would bring dishonor to my king. I don't want to do that. Look at this. What do they say, drop the mic? There it is. But of God. And then look at this beautiful verse in 14. And the Word, which was spoken of earlier, being with God and was God in eternity, in verses 1 to 3. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. We saw it. We beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full, full, full of grace and truth. My God the Word came to save His people from their sins, and He did it. And there's nothing that we can do. We saw there that we're saved by the power of God, according to the will and purpose of And think of this, they were saying, well, we're descendants of Abraham, we're saved. Do you know Abraham wasn't even an Israelite? You ever think of that? I was looking at this this week and I thought about this a lot. Oh my gosh. One of my preacher friends and one of his servants said, Abraham wasn't, he wasn't an Israelite. He was a pagan idol worshiper in the land of Ur. My, he didn't descend from Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Israel descended from Abraham. And Abraham was a pagan idolator before the Lord saved him. I mean, he bowed down to statues, beloved. He bowed down to false gods. And he was called out of the land of Ur, remember? By the almighty power of God. We're called out of Egypt, eh? We're called out of this world, aren't we? We're still in this world, but we're not of this world. My. And he was given, do you know what? Abraham was given the same faith that we have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he believed what God said, didn't he? What do we believe? We believe what God says. And his faith was centered on the Messiah, right? He was looking for the Messiah to come. Well, we've been taught, and we know now by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, Messiah's already come. He's redeemed his people 2,000 years ago, and we look to him. Where is he right now? He's alive right now, isn't he? He's in glory, isn't he? Look unto me, all ye ends of the world, and be ye saved, for I am God." We worship God. We worship the one true living God. The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld His glory. And you know what? When we hear the gospel preached, don't we behold the glory of God in Christ by faith? That's my Savior. The ruler of the world is my Savior. The one who not even a piece of dust flies in the air without Him knowing and without it being according to His will and purpose is my Savior. My. My. That's our King, beloved. King of kings and Lord of lords. And he's coming back. We don't know when, but he'll come back in a vesture dipped with blood. My. He came as a lamb, he'll come back as a lion. Right? My, oh my. The lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. He hath prevailed. He prevailed over our sins, beloved. He prevailed over the law of God. He prevailed over the wrath of God that was due us. The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. Praise his mighty name. And Paul, who thought he was a child of God because he was in his right, in his natural state, He foolishly and sinfully thought that he was righteous by the keeping of the law. I remember he says in Philippians, I believe it is, he says, and as to the law, blameless. That's how he saw himself in his natural state. And then he says, after the Lord saves him, I'm the chief of sinners. What a change. What a change. And that's a miracle of grace, isn't it? Just like it is in our lives. It's a miracle of grace. Am I? He thought he was keeping the law and he's breaking it all. And he was called the same way Abraham was. Same way we are called. By the irresistible grace of God. Made will in the day of his power. We're called by sovereign, irresistible, drawing power of God the Holy Spirit, given the gift of faith which enables a hell-deserving sinner such as we to believe in the Christ of the Holy Scriptures and his perfect redeeming work. that makes every believer acceptable before God. Because of Christ's perfect redeeming work, we are accepted before God. That's amazing grace. And Paul wrote these words to the churches in Galatia. Listen to this. He's making them aware of the false teachers. Making them aware of the false teachings of the self-righteous Jews who taught salvation by circumcision of the flesh. And they were professing Christians. Think of that. Many shall say unto me, Lord, Lord, have we not done all these things? He says, depart from me, you cursed, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you. Listen to what he wrote to the Galatians. The law was our schoolmaster. to bring us unto Christ, our teacher. That we might be justified by faith, but after that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Now remember, he's writing to the Gauls, who came from England and Scotland, That's where they came from, come down into the Germatic area and all that, France, all that area, the land of Gaul. And they were pagan, superstitious idol worshipers. But God saved some of them. So this is who he's writing to. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, that's not water baptism, that's being born again. have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Now listen to this. And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed. He just said Jew and Gentile. But the Jews were claiming they were Abraham's seed. The true Israel of God is every born-again, blood-washed believer. Listen, I'll read this again. And if ye be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. God promised Abraham he'd give him a seed that no one could number. Hmm. If ye be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. That's glorious. That's glorious. So, then we see over Peter, writing under divine inspiration, said that baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, which means it does not wash away sins. but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is one of the first steps of obedience, of being a faithful witness that the believer has heard and is now going to make a public profession of our faith in Christ. And baptism has no saving, no redeeming efficacy. It's symbolic. It's a picture of the washing away of the believer's sins by the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He done it all. He's done it all. Now let's go back to Acts chapter 22. We're gonna read verses 17 to 21. Paul continues with his personal testimony before these angry Jews. They just tried to kill him. And look what he goes on to say in verse 17. And it came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance and saw him saying unto me, make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me." Look at that. God's telling Paul, get out of Jerusalem because they're not going to receive your testimony about me. They will not receive it. And I said, Lord, look at that. Calls them Lord now, doesn't he? I love this. They know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee far thence unto the Gentiles. Oh my. Paul says, These Jews know what I did. And the Lord says, I'm going to send you to the Gentiles. Oh my, he's been commissioned, hasn't he? And that's, see the book of Acts is us seeing him going, he goes to Greece, he goes to Cyprus, he goes to Crete, he goes to all these, we're seeing him doing it, taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Isn't that wonderful? Going to Alexandria, going to all these Thessalonica, Philippi, Ephesus, all these, but Colossus, all these places preaching Christ, preaching salvation in and through the risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember, our Lord, He knows all things. He's ever-present, and He knows all things. He knows the end from the beginning, He tells us in Isaiah. in everything in between because he's purposed the end from the beginning and everything in between. See, I mentioned this in Sunday school and I'm going to mention it again. I was listening to Brother Lance Heller preach up in the Dalles, Oregon on Friday night. And he said this, this blew my mind away. He said, time is not molded around us. Time is molded around the will and purpose of God. So God from eternity knows His will and purpose, right? And He molds time around that, so that He can say, all things happen for your good and for His glory. Isn't that amazing? Even when we don't understand, we have no, what in the world, we throw our arms up, what in the world's going on, Lord? It's all working according to His will and purpose. That's amazing. Time is molded around God's will and purpose. So the things we see unfolding in this world are unfolding according to the will and purpose of God. Now man, being sinful beings like we are, he has to do absolutely nothing for us to cause trouble and to sin and to be riotous and to be wicked. He just has to leave us alone. Saved and lost. Praise God he doesn't leave us alone. He says, I'll never leave you, nor forsake thee. I will never, I will never, I will never, in a triple negative in the Greek, leave thee, nor forsake thee. Ooh, my, that's comfort, isn't it? And Paul knew that. He'd been taught that. Look at how we see through all these events how he's being taught that, that God's ever with him. There's never a time when the Lord's not with him. And these angry Jews, they would have killed Paul. And they still want to kill him. The Lord says, they're not going to receive what you say. But notice he didn't tell them not to say that, not to tell them about him. No, he didn't say that. He just said, they're not going to receive it. They're not going to receive it. And think of this. If the Lord had an assent that unsaved Roman chief captain, They'd have killed Paul. Because remember, as soon as they saw the Romans, they were like, whoa! Take them away. And I'll tell you why, Tom. We've talked about them Roman soldiers, man. They come around, those people are going to scatter. It's like cockroaches. When you turn a light on, they're gone, aren't they? Oh, yeah. Because those Roman soldiers will put them to the sword. They didn't mess around. They didn't say, well, you're going to get 50 years in jail. No, they didn't do that. My, oh, my. And remember, this is an area where Rome has control, and any kind of uprising is seen as a rebellion against the Roman Empire. So that's why they backed off so fast. And Paul is rescued by these Roman soldiers according to the will and purpose of God. And Paul's truthful testimony of his consent unto death of Stephen and the persecution of true believers in Christ would not and could not change the hatred that was in the hearts of those unbelieving Jews. They hated him because he preached Christ, because he lifted Christ up. And isn't it amazing that God the Holy Spirit will use our personal testimony of his saving grace in our lives as it pleases him? But our testimony must always be accompanied with the gospel, the truth of the gospel. It must always point people to Christ. Look what God's done for me. Look what he's done. He saved me from my sin because it pleased him to do so. Our sovereign Lord is the only one who can take away the stony heart of unbelief out of us. and give the sinner a new heart filled with true saving faith to love Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. We're born again by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. And now we love his people. And his gospel is the instrument that he uses to perform the miracle of the new birth. over here in 1 Corinthians 1. We're going to start in verse 17, beloved. Look at this. This is beautiful. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. The whole reason I'm here is to preach the gospel to you. You know we're fellow soldiers going through this world? Fellow citizens of heaven traveling through this land of woe? To preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, so not fancy language. lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. You don't have to worry about that with me. I don't speak with lofty language. You guys know that. But there's some folks out there who they're getting the pulpit and they'll give you a theological dissertation that has no value at all. No value at all. For the preaching of the cross is unto them that perish foolishness. Look at that. So unsaved people, it's foolishness. But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. We're saved by the power of God, according to the will and purpose of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent? Where is the wise? Where are the past great philosophers, the Greek philosophers? Where are they? They're dead. They're gone. But where is Christ? He's on the throne. His word is a living word. Oh my. Where's the scribe? Where's the disputer of this word? Where are those who disputed with God's people, brother Zane, who said, well, you say he's coming back. Yeah, sure. They're gone, aren't they? And even the ones who speak like that today will be gone. Oh. Had not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. See, all the wisdom that man has and think they have, they still can't know who God is. He has to be revealed. Brother Tom, like you said, he's got to be revealed. Knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Look at that. See, what man calls foolishness, God uses to save. And I know it was foolishness to me at one time. Now it's wonderful. I get to proclaim Christ. I get to proclaim the only Savior of sinners. The one who saved my soul. And I get to preach it to folks who love the Savior. And we pray the Lord will use it and draw in his lost sheep, don't we? My, look at this. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, always seeking wisdom, but never coming to the knowledge of truth. But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block. And under the Greeks, foolishness. But under them which are called, look at that, by the effectual call of God the Holy Spirit, both Jews and Gentiles. Oh, to the Jews, that was almost blasphemy to say that the Gentiles are part of the kingdom of God. Oh, look what God says. And remember, Paul's writing this, but this is God the Holy Spirit who's the true author, right? Both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. That's what he is to us. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than man. Look at that. And the weakness of God is stronger than man. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things, that's the common things of the world, to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world, and confounded the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen. There it is again. Yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are are. And In the, I don't know if it's in your margin, but in here it says insignificant. The insignificant things, the base there is insignificant things. Oh my. Why? Look at verse 29. That no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him. Okay, now this is to believers, right? This is written to believers, but of him. Are ye, are we too, as believers now, in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification, redemption, that according as is written, he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. And that's who we glory in. We glory in the Lord. Look what the Lord's done. Look at this wonderful salvation that Christ has accomplished for us 2,000 years ago. And look at the mighty work he's done in us in saving our souls. Oh. And the mob of Christ-hating Jews, they were silent. Next week, we're going to see they start to act up. They kept silent until Paul said that the Lord Jesus Christ had sent him to preach, and then they lost it. Then they lost it. And when he said, the Lord Jesus Christ has sent me to preach to the Gentiles, that's when they blew a gasket. Because to them, the Gentiles were just a bunch of dogs. My, and here we are. Generations of Gentiles who the Lord have saved. Isn't that amazing? My, two generations of the Wagners who the Lord saved. Isn't that incredible? Are you second or third of the locks who the Lord saved? Isn't that amazing? Absolutely amazing. My, Tom, you and your dad and your mom, isn't that amazing? Giving us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to look to Christ. And then there's other family members who don't ever care about Christ. Well, next week we'll see these unbelieving Jews seething in anger and hatred for Jesus Christ, which again is manifested in an almost uncontrollable rage. But the Lord in his providence has that Roman captain and the centurions and all the Roman soldiers there to protect Paul. Praise God for the salvation of his people. As left in our natural state, we would be just like these unbelieving Jews. We would be just like them. We'd be no different than them in their hatred towards Christ. But rejoice, beloved of God. Rejoice at the mercy of God which we have received in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we say to God be the glory, honor, and praise. Amen and amen. Brother Chris, can you close us in prayer?