Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Acts 24. The section that I had Brother
Matt read there, Acts 24. Acts 24. The name of the message is My
Confession. My Confession. And this speaks, of course, of
what Paul professes, but also what every believer professes.
What every born-again, blood-washed believer professes. We see here in the first 10 verses
that Ananias and members of the council, they hired a professional
oratator by the name of Tertullus. He was a professional oratator.
And they hired him to accuse Paul before Felix, the Roman
governor. And it's said that Tertullus
was a Roman, and that he could speak to Felix in his own language. And some believe that Tertullus
was also a Jewish proselyte, although that's only just conjuncture. No one really knows for sure,
but he was a Roman. And he could speak the Felix
in his own language. Let's read those first 10 verses,
or first nine verses again. And after five days, Ananias,
the high priest, descended with the elders and a certain orator
named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. And
when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him. saying,
seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, in that very
work deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence. We
accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Notwithstanding that I be not
further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear
us of thy clemency a few words. Notice he speaks very lawfully.
Speaks like a lord, doesn't he? Speaks very lawfully. Puffing
Felix up, we've seen already. Puffing him up. For we have found this man, being
Paul, a persistent fellow and a mover of sedition among all
the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect
of the Nazarenes. who also hath gone about to profane
the temple, whom we took, and we would have judged according
to our law, but the chief captain, Lysistris, came upon us, and
with great violence took him out of our hands." He's embellishing
this quite a bit, isn't he? He's embellishing this. "...commanding
his accusers to come unto thee by examining of whom thyself
mayest take knowledge of all these things wherever we accuse
him. And the Jews assented. Of course they did. Of course
they did. They'd hired him to say these
things. Saying that all these things were so. And we see, like most lawyers,
to tell us knew how to flatter prominent men. Oh, he speaks
these words, flattering Felix. And he laid it on before that
governor, didn't he? In those words we just read.
And his whole intention is to persuade Felix to side with the
high priests and those unbelieving Jews who were with him. And Paul, we know, was not guilty
of any crime. He was a man of great integrity.
He had done nothing wrong. He'd obeyed the command of the
Lord Jesus to preach his gospel to all men, and that's what he
did. That's what he did. And for being obedient to the
appointed commission, he was now being accused of crimes that
he did not commit. He's been falsely accused. Paul was not one who would stir
up trouble, as he was being accused of. He was not a wicked man. He was not a mover of sedition,
which would be the same as an insurrectionist. He wasn't trying
to overthrow the government. He wasn't doing those things.
But Tertullus knew how the Romans carefully guarded against these
kinds of uprisings. So he brings that into the argument.
He knows that's a hot button for the Romans. He starts stirring
up trouble politically. You start causing sedition among
the people. And those Roman legions are going
to come marching in. So he's trying to bring this
forth before Felix. Falsely accusing Paul. We see
that in verse 5. Trying to get him condemned.
For we have found this man a persistent fellow and a mover of sedition
among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of
the sect of the Nazarenes. Look at that. He uses the words here, the sect
of the Nazarenes in verse 5. That was a very slanderous term
for the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They weren't a
sect. They were following Christ. They were in the way. Who is the way? The truth and
the life. The Lord Jesus Christ. They were
followers of the way. So he uses these words very slanderously. Paul wasn't a ringleader of a
sect or a false religious group. No, he was one of the apostles
who held the highest office in the church of the living God. And he preached Christ and Him
crucified whenever he could. Because that's what God had sent
him to do. To proclaim Christ. Paul had
not profaned the temple by bringing a Gentile into it. And we see
that this was one of the accusations brought against him, but he didn't
do that. In verse 6, look at verse 6.
Who also hath gone about to profane the temple, whom we took, and
would have judged according to our law. Another false accusation. And these men are wicked. And
Tertullus is a wicked tool of theirs, conspiring against the man sent
by God to preach and proclaim the gospel. Well, not much has changed, has
it? Still happens in this world today. They were phony, wicked accusers,
and Tertullus was one of them. hired by them. Then Tertullus
tried to assure Felix that the Jews would have taken care of
Paul all according to their own judicial system. But this chief
captain, he got in the way. And he caused violence when he
took Paul out of their hands. This was another lie. Another
lie. And the high priest and all those
Jews who were with him entered into this lie by agreeing with
what this hired lawyer was saying. An angry, Christ-hating mob would
have killed Paul had it not been for the captain. And they knew
it. They knew it. Let's read now verses 10 to 13
now. Then Paul, after the governor
had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know
that Thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation. I do
more cheerfully answer for myself, because that thou mayest understand
that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem
for to worship. And they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people,
neither in the synagogues, nor in the city. Neither can they
prove the things whereof they now accuse me." They cannot prove
it. Because it's not true. And we see here that Paul was
given permission to speak to Felix. And he doesn't use flattering
lies to try to impress Felix. Flattering words. But we do see
that he gives honor where honor was due. And he spoke the truth
in respect to Felix being a judge unto the nation for many years. And then we see that Paul answered
his accusers by just giving facts. By just giving facts. True facts
in what had befallen him. And we see that Paul stated that
it had only been 12 days since he'd gone up to Jerusalem. It
had only been 12 days. And he didn't come up to cause
trouble. He came up to worship, to be with the Church of God
in Jerusalem. And He answered His accusers
cheerfully by giving them true facts in what had befallen Him. True facts. His accusers had not found Him
in the temple, arguing or disputing. They hadn't found Him there.
He wasn't there arguing and disputing with any man. He hadn't stirred
up anyone in the temple or in the city. He didn't stir things
up in an attempt to disrupt the nation of Israel. He didn't do
that. And we see that Paul plainly
states that his accusers could not prove him to be guilty of
the very accusations that they had brought against him. He says
they can't prove this. And we know that there was an
outcry against Paul. We know, turn if you would one
chapter over, we know that a mob rose up against Paul, a mob of
angry Jews, and they would have killed Paul except for the restraining
hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. God protected Paul. Our Lord
protected Paul. He was a sent one of God. He
protected him. And remember, He protects us
in our lives, beloved. Every day, every second of our
life, He protects us and watches over us. As I said last week,
don't take for granted just driving to the grocery store and making
it home safe. That's a travel mercy. Every
day the Lord protects us and cares for us. And we have again,
I'm going to mention this again, we have the sirens that we hear, is a constant reminder that life
is short. Life is short. And life is like
a vapor. And our Lord watches over us
constantly. Look at this in Acts 23, verses
10 and 11. They would have killed him but
for the restraining hand of God. God, the Lord Jesus Christ sent
this Roman captain to rescue the apostle. And we see that. Look at this. Verses 10 and 11.
And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain,
fearing less Paul, should have been pulled in pieces of them.
He thought they were going to tear him to pieces. So who's
the... He's not causing sedition. This
angry mob wants to kill him. But God restrains them, beloved,
sends in this unbelieving Roman captain. See, God does whatever
he pleases, doesn't he? Of all minds. Commanded, and this captain commanded
the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among
them and to bring him under the castle. Again, they killed him. And the night following, look
at this, the Lord stood by him and said, be of good cheer, Paul,
for as thou has testified of me in Jerusalem, so thou must
bear witness also at Rome. The same things that he confessed
in Jerusalem, he's gonna confess in Rome. How? By the power of
God. And we know what God says shall
come to pass, don't we? We know that. It will come to
pass. And we know from studying the
scriptures that this came to pass. My oh my. So we see that God's
children are to be honest in all our dealings with others.
We're to live quiet, peaceable lives, beloved, before those
who are not believers. In the inspired word, God says
this, And who is he that will harm you, if you be followers
of that which is good? Who will be he that harm you
if you be followers of that which is good? But sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts and be ready, be ready, be ready for what?
To always give an answer. To always give an answer for
what? For what? Of the hope that lies within
us. Always be ready to give an answer to every man that asks
you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
Always be ready to give an answer. To confess Christ and what he's
done. Why? Just tell them the good
things the Lord... If the Lord opens the door, just tell them
the good things the Lord has done. Wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. And under divine inspiration,
that's in 1 Peter 3, 13-15. Under divine inspiration, Peter
went on to write, having a good conscience, that whereas they
speak evil of you, even if they speak... We see this, right?
They're speaking evil of Paul. As of evildoers, They may be
ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
For it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer
for well doing than for evil doing. 1 Peter 3 16 and 17. My oh my. Turn if you would. Turn if you would to 1 Peter
chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Be ready beloved. Be ready to
speak of the hope that lies within you. Be ready to speak of that.
of the blessed hope that the Lord has given you. We have a
hope, don't we? We have a hope that others don't
have. We have a hope in Christ. And this hope, as the writer
of Hebrews says, is an anchor of our soul, both sure and steadfast. Sure and steadfast. This world,
my, things just flow ebb and flow, don't they? It just ebbs,
but we have a sure anchor, beloved. Christ Jesus our Lord, sure anchor. My, look at this in 1 Peter 2,
verses 19-25. And like Paul, if we're falsely
accused of anything, just give the facts, beloved. Just give
the facts, and you know what? Leave the results in the hands
of your sovereign God. Someone falsely accuses you,
it'll happen. Just leave the results in the hands of our sovereign
God. That's what Paul's done. He's
just telling them the truth, isn't he? And leaving the results
in the hands of our great and glorious God. 1 Peter 2, verses
19-25. For this is thankful, if a man
for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully.
Now Paul is wrongfully suffering grief here. They falsely accused
him. For what glory is it, When ye
are buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently. But
if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently. This is acceptable with God.
Now remember, these are that Peter's writing to saints that
are suffering for their faith. They're suffering for their faith,
beloved. For even here unto where ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps. Who did no sin, perfect, sinless,
spotless. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. You think
of that, the Lord could have just said, be gone. And those
folks would have just, poof. They'd drop dead if he had said
so. Those people who were accusing him, spitting in his face. Them
Roman soldiers, and those were hardened men. He could have just had them drop
on the spot. No, he knows he must go to the cross. He must
redeem his people from their sins. He's falsely accused, he's
mocked, he's spit on. And he does not revile that. My. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously.
He committed himself to the Father, beloved. committed himself to
the Father, who his own self bear our sins in his own body.
Remember, further up it says he did no sin, neither was guile
found in his eyes. He's perfect, sinless, spotless.
And it says here, who his own self bear our sins in his body
on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye are healed. For ye were as sheep gone astray.
That was us in our natural state, just gone. Just sheep wandering
off. Who sought us, beloved? Were
you looking for God when He found you? No, we weren't, were we?
But He brought us to a place where we could hear the gospel
preached and proclaimed, and He, by His Almighty Spirit, regenerated
us, we're born again, and oh my! Granted faith to believe
in the very One who is the Bishop of our souls. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at that. Who his own self
bear our sins in his body on the tree that that we being dead
to sins should live under righteousness. We're clothed in this perfect
righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. For ye were a
sheep gone astray but you are now returned to the shepherd
and bishop of your souls. My oh my. We looked at in Sunday
school that We were given to Christ and it's His responsibility
to care for us. He's a great shepherd. My, He's
redeemed us. He's responsible for our welfare. And oh, what a sweet shepherd
He is. What a sweet, sweet shepherd
He is. Now let's go back to Acts chapter 24. We'll read verses
14 to 16. Look at this. Look what Paul confesses here. But this, I confess unto thee
that after the way which they call heresy. Now he's speaking
of the Jews there. Look what they called what we
believe. Heresy. Heresy. listen to Paul's confession,
but this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they
shall call, or which they call heresy, so worship I God, I the
God of my fathers, believe in all things which are written
in the Law and the Prophets. He believes the words of this
book. Now remember, he didn't have the New Testament, but he
preached from the Old Testament, right? And he believed that those
words, those words were the word of God. He believed them. Because
he knew they spoke of Christ. They spoke of Christ. Look at
this, and have hope toward God. Do you have hope toward God? Do you have hope toward God right
now? Or are you hoping in yourself? The believer has hope toward
God, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. which they themselves also allow
that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust. Now look at that. There will
be a resurrection, whether people believe it or not, of the just
and of the unjust. There will be. There will be. And no one will
escape that day. All shall appear before. And
do you know who all will appear before at the Great White Judgment? The Almighty Lord Jesus Christ. The very One who they despised
and rejected. They shall stand before Him.
The just and the unjust. And do you know the only one
who makes the difference between the just and the unjust? God. Ain't that amazing? Only God. Not man, but God. And God's people, we marvel at
that because we know we're just like the unjust. except we're
saved by the grace of God and through Christ. We don't deserve
this mercy. But see, Paul had faith in God,
and he rested in God. He had God-given faith like every
believer has. And he had a hope, beloved, like
we have a hope. And he knew that there would
be a great resurrection of the just and the unjust. And he knew
that he was one of the just only by the grace of God. He knew
that. He said, I am what I am by the
grace of God. He said, I've obtained mercy. Which is in other words, he's
saying, I don't get what I deserve. That's what every one of us is
saying. And Paul at the end of his life says, I'm the chief
of sinners. But he's saved by the grace of
God. Oh my, how great this grace is. Look, he says, and herein do
I excuse myself or exercise myself to have always a conscience void
of offense towards God and toward man. He didn't want to offend
God and he didn't want to offend man. Sometimes we say things not knowing
and we offend people. We ought to be careful. We ought
to be careful what we say to one another. We ought to be careful,
beloved. And Paul, Paul tried to not offend
God or man. Now we know that the preaching
of the gospel offends the pride of man. We know that. It's because
it destroys man's pride. But Paul's not setting out to
offend people. But also he's being firm when
he preaches the gospel, which every preacher does. He wants to have a good conscience
before God. And notice in our text here that
the Apostle Paul acknowledges that the way the Pharisees call
heresy, so he worships God. The very way they call heresy,
he worships God that way. And for that reason, beloved
of God, they hated him. They wanted to, we saw a chapter
over, they wanted to kill him. And he knew it endangered his
life, but he still boldly proclaimed the gospel. He proclaimed Christ. He said, I confess unto thee
that the way which they call heresy, which is, Christ is the
way, isn't he? He's the way, the truth, and
the life. He's the true Messiah. So worship I God, of my fathers,
believe in all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets.
And we know that the Law and the Prophets testified of Christ. He'd been taught that by the
Holy Spirit of God, just as you and I who believe have been taught
the same truth. I remember in religion I used
to say, oh, the Old Testament is for the Jews and the New Testament
is for believers. That's so horrible. But in my ignorance, I said that.
The law and the prophets testify of Christ, beloved. He's all
through the word. He's all through the word. And
again, Paul and James and Peter and all the apostles, all they
had were the Old Testament scriptures. And they preached and proclaimed
Christ Jesus our Lord. That's who they preached. And for this very reason, These
Jews are persecuted. Look at verse 15 again. And have
hope toward God, we know Christ is Paul's only hope, which is
true of every believer, which they themselves also allow, that
there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust. Now those who truly worship God
through the ages have been persecuted for their faith. John Flavel,
Thomas Watson, John Bunyan. John Bunyan spent years in prison
for what he believed and confessed. Years. And the apostles were
persecuted for what they believed and what they confessed. And
they believed Christ Jesus as the Messiah and they confessed
Him and they preached and proclaimed Christ and Him crucified. And we know our Lord, He was
despised and rejected. The religious who's who turned
their back on Him, didn't they? They turned their back on him,
beloved. And then they called those who
follow him heretics. Heretics. Do you know it's still
true today? Do you know that? It's still true today. They call
the followers of the way heretics. Religious folks, they hate what
we preach and proclaim. And we confess the same as Paul,
after the way which they call heresy, so worship I God. The
God of my fathers believe in all things which are written
in the Law and the Prophets. So Paul not only continued to
give true facts concerning what took place at Jerusalem, but
he gave a good confession of his faith here, didn't he? He
did. He gave a good confession of
his faith, of who his hope and who his trust was in. The way which those unbelieving
Jews called heresy was the one he looked to, the Lord Jesus
Christ. They believed that the Nazarenes,
the followers of the Nazarene, which again was a slanderous
term, they believed they were a heretical division-producing
sect. They thought they were heretical
and they just produced division. And Paul believed, though, what
was written in the Old Testament. He believed what was written
in the Scriptures and the Law and the Prophets. And again,
he understood by divine revelation. And they hate that, too. By the
fact that we say we only know what we know by divine revelation. We're taught of God, aren't we?
We didn't come to this by studying ourselves. No. We came to this by divine
revelation. And the spiritual meaning of
what was written that the Old Testament prophets spoke of Christ,
we now know and profess and proclaim. And we see that Paul is not ashamed
to proclaim that he believed in the resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and the unjust. He says it right here. And this
causes Felix to tremble. Do you know that? Look at verses
24 and 25. Look at this. And after certain days, when
Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewish, he sent for
Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come..." So Paul preached righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come. Felix trembled. He trembled. He trembled. Go thy way for this
time when I have a convenient season and I will call for thee.
Oh my. Didn't want to hear it. Trembled
though. Yeah. We should tremble. Even we who are the people of
God tremble in reverence and awe of who our God is, don't
we? There will be a great day of reckoning. There will be. when the just and the unjust
stand before Christ. My. And again. Paul knew that there was only
one way a sinner could be just before God. He knew there was
only one way. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter eight, he knew there was only one way. that God justified
His people. And He knew that was only through
Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's who He preached
and proclaimed. There's only one way. There's
only one way for us to be just. We're born unjust. And when we're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, And when we're granted
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're made just. But in our natural state, we're
unjust before God. We're his people, yes. But in
our natural state, we're born the unjust. That's why scripture
says Christ, the just one, died for the unjust, beloved. Sinners
by birth, nature, and choice. We know though that He was raised
for our justification, that He died for all His chosen people. Look at this though in Romans
8.31. I want us to look at this with this in mind. What shall
we then say to these things? Look at this. If God, the Almighty,
the Sovereign Creator of all, the Ruler over all, If God before us, who can be
against us? What an amazing question. If God before us, if the almighty God who rules
over all before us, I ask you, who could be against us? Well,
we know the answer. No one. No one. He that spared not his own son,
he didn't spare his son. He sent him here to die. The
Father sent Christ to be the propitiation for the sins of
his people. He sent him here, beloved, to
die. And Christ willingly came here
to die. He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for who? Us all. That means all the elect
of all the ages. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Now look at the conclusion to
this, and it's in a question too as well. This is amazing,
these questions here. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? No one can. You know why? Because
it's God who justifies us. God Almighty has justified us,
beloved. It doesn't give us a license
to go crazy and sin as much as we want, does it? No, it doesn't
do that. Not at all. Again, the love of Christ constrains
us from sin, but look at that. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's love? Anything. Now, I was talking
to a young man yesterday, I mentioned in Sunday school, and we said,
boy, our own hearts condemn us sometimes, don't they? You ever
have your heart condemn you? Something comes up from your past and you
remember it, and you're like, oh my Lord. I know it's under the
blood, forgive me for what I did then. We still confess our sin
to Him, don't we? My, oh my. But no one can bring
any charge against God's life. You know why? I love that old
song. Jesus paid it all. All. All. No charge brought against
God's people because that which was due us the wrath and judgment
of God for our sins fell upon our almighty Savior, beloved,
our surety. Our surety. Look at this. It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? Again, sometimes our own hearts
condemn us, don't we? Let's be honest. Who is He that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather than is risen, who is even at the right hand of God,
who maketh intercession for us. My, my, what a Savior. And this
is who Paul professed, beloved. This is his confession. My hope
is in Christ. My hope is in Christ. Is it so
with you? Oh, I pray if it's not, that
God would make it so. Oh my. And all those who go out
into eternity without believing the gospel message of the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him crucified are unjust. They will stand before
God, before Christ, unjust. And again, it's Him who they
will stand before. And they'll stand before Him
without any hope. Now, we know they're going to
be divided, and we know the just will be divided from the unjust. And the only one who makes the
two to differ is God Almighty. And we who are called just, we
know it's not anything in us. We're justified by the Lord Jesus
Christ, clothed in His perfect spotless righteousness, and we
will stand there. clothed in His righteousness. Isn't that
marvelous? All according to His will and mercy. That's why Paul
said, I've obtained mercy. Mercy. And again, no one will
escape this day. No one. People may laugh and
mock at it and say, well that's not true. Yes it is. There will
be a great day. when the just and the unjust
shall stand before the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ. We see here then in our text
also that Paul's response was much more specific than Tertulli's
general charge. When Paul briefly addressed the
bench, he gave honor to whom honors do. He did it without
flattery though. Paul knew he was innocent and
he knew that God stood with him and God protected him. He knew
that they had no basis for their charges which they bought against
Him. Look in verse 17. He'd been away from Jerusalem
for a long time and He brings this forth in verse 17. Now after
many years I come to bring alms to my nation in offerings. That's
why He came. He came to worship with the Church
of God which was at Jerusalem, beloved. He'd been gone for years,
He says. He simply returned to worship
God to bring alms and offerings from the Gentile churches to
their Jewish brethren. That's why He was there. He came in a quiet, lawful manner.
He didn't make a disturbance, beloved. But the ones who were
causing trouble were the true troublemakers. They followed
him from Asia Minor and spread slanderous rumors about him.
Look at verses 18 and 19 of this chapter. Whereupon certain Jews
from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude
nor with atonement, who ought to have been here before thee
and object if they had ought against me. They'd followed him
from Asia. You know, nothing news, nothing
news. under the sun, but there's nothing new under the sun, nothing's
changed. False religion is still called the gospel of salvation
in and through Christ alone, by the grace of God alone. They
still call it heretical. Modern religion, just like the
days of old, in the days of Peter, John, Paul, and Jude, has always
been opposed to the gospel of God's grace. And if you don't
believe me, ask some religious friends of yours what they think
about what we believe. I'm telling you. You will quickly
find that they oppose it. But I'll tell you what to do.
You just keep giving them the truth. Answer them with Scripture. Don't answer them with your opinion.
Give them Scripture that you want. Because that's the only
thing, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He takes the Scriptures
and He uses it. You just give them Scripture.
Elections all through this Bible, isn't it? God chose Israel over
all those other nations, left them in the dark. All those other
nations chose Israel. That's a picture of the church,
beloved. Chose to save Noah and his family.
Everybody else perished. He does whatever he pleases.
But there's pictures all through the scriptures of the election.
Now election is one that people really get worked up about. But
we as the Lord's people, We marvel at it, don't we? God chose me. Praise God I was included. Praise
God He included me. I love that old song. Praise
God He included me. So Paul's confession before Felix,
before anyone who he was sovereignly appointed to preach and proclaim
to, was Christ and Him crucified. There's only one message that
fully satisfies all that is written in the Law and the Prophets.
There's only one message that honors the justice and truth
of God, while bringing forth and holding forth the hope of
resurrection and eternal life to sinners who deserve the wrath
of God. Never forget, too, that we who are the redeemed of the
Lord, we who are called the just ones, we are fully deserving
of the wrath of God for our sins. But by God's mercy, it fell upon
Christ in our place. Mine. And this message, the gospel
of God's saving grace. Here are seven quick facts about
seven spiritual truths declared when the gospel is declared.
And there can be no compromise with these. No compromise. Though
all the world should denounce them as heresy, gospel preachers
will proclaim these wondrous truths. Number one, the Bible
alone is the word of God. The Bible alone is our final
authority. It's our final authority. It's our only rule of faith and
practice below. Scripture says this, all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is profitable. What? For what? For
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works. Oh my, we stand on the Word of
God, don't we? We tell people, show me in the
Word. We measure everything people
tell us by the Word of God. What's the word say? Oh my. To the law and the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it's because there's
no light in them, Isaiah 8.20. There you go. Number two, God
Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is absolutely sovereign
over all things and constantly exercising sovereignty in creation,
providence, and grace. We preach and proclaim this. Whatsoever the Lord is pleased,
that did he in heaven and in the earth, and in the seas, and
all deep places. Psalm 135, 6. Romans 11, 36. For of him, and
through him, and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. The third point is all
men and women by nature since the fall of Adam are totally
depraved, spiritually dead sinners. That is man's natural state.
That's man's natural state. The scripture says this, behold
I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me, Psalm 51.5. And in this in Romans 5.12, wherefore is by
one man being Adam, sin entered into the world and death by sin,
so that death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.
That's what the scriptures declare. And we believe it, don't we?
Fourth point is by eternal unconditional election the Lord God chose a
people before the world began, who must and will be saved, who
must and will be saved, beloved. Praise God. And it's a work of
God. I'll have you turn to this one.
We've read it before, but I want us to read it in Ephesians chapter
one. And I'll read 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, which says, But we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief in truth. My oh my. Look at this in Ephesians
1. And again, the heading is, By eternal, unconditional election
of the Lord God chose a people before the world began, who must
and will be saved. Look at this. What does the scripture
say? Ephesians 1, verses 3-6. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. There's the key. In
Christ. According as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. And remember, we're
sinners, right? We're saved sinners. Look at
what it says here. That we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Wonder of wonders, beloved. All
wonder, having predestinated us into the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of whose
will? His will. His will. To the praise, and this is what
we cry out, right? To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Who
is the Beloved? Jesus Christ, our Lord, the very
one who Paul confessed before Felix, accepted by God in Christ. Therefore, at that great throne,
that great white judgment throne, because we are accepted in the
Beloved, accepted in Christ, we are called the just ones. Isn't that amazing? So the only
one again who made us to differ, we see it in that passage right
there. The only one who made us to differ is our great and
glorious God. By His mercy and His grace. My. The fifth point is the Lord Jesus
Christ affectionately redeemed all of God's elect, putting away
the sins by the sacrifice of Himself. Turn if you would to
Hebrews chapter 9. And He obtained eternal redemption
for us. for his people. He obtained it.
And it's called eternal redemption because it is eternal. It's eternal. It's not based
upon us. He obtained it for us. How? By the sacrifice of himself.
By the sacrifice of himself. Look at this. Hebrews 9 verses
11 to 22. But Christ being common high
priest, the good things to come, he left the glories of heaven,
beloved, and he came to this world. came to die, came to be
the substitute of his people, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
look at this, having obtained eternal redemption for us, hence
the great words, it is finished. Oh my beloved. And then he's
raised for our justification to show that God is absolutely
satisfied with that sacrifice. He obtained it. He did it. None
of us could. And he obtained eternal redemption
for us, for his people. A people of God's chosen we saw
over there in Ephesians chapter 1. for if the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify
to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the blood
of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself look at
this without spot underline that beloved underline that seriously
underline that right there if you want but look at that without
spot that means that in his death he's absolutely sinless He's
offering Himself up to God. Remember, it's God we've sinned
against, right? And He's our substitute. And
it says there, He offered Himself up. He's dying on the cross.
He offered Himself up without spot. Our sins were imputed to
Him, beloved. And He bore it all. But He's
offering Himself up. The sinless, spotless Lamb of
God. Remember, God wouldn't accept
the lamb if it was blemished. Oh, he's perfect, boy. He's perfect. He offers himself up without
spot. Look at that. It's marvelous.
Without spot. To God. Because we sinned against
God. God, incarnated in the flesh,
is satisfying the very law that he gave to Moses for us. God is satisfying God in our
place. I ask you, is there a greater
manifestation of love than that that has ever occurred in this
world? And I love my wife dearly. I love her. But our love is,
and I know you all love your wives and husbands, but our love
that we have for one another and our children does not even
compare, does not even come close to the love that God has for
his people. Remember, he spared not his son.
He didn't spare him. This is the greatest manifestation
of love that this world has ever seen. And he offered himself up for
us, for his people, without spot. He purged our conscience from
dead works to serve the living God. And for this cause, he is
the mediator of the New Testament, it says. That by means of death,
by his death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. There
is Christ. For a testament is a force after
men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all whether
testate or livid. Whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood, for when Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood
of the calves, and of goats, and of water, and scarlet wool,
and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people,
saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath
enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of ministry. And look
at verse 22. And almost all things by the law are by the law purged
with blood. Look at this. And without the
shedding of blood, look at these key words here in verse 22. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission. You know what that
means? That means without Christ's shed
blood for us, there'd be no remission for our sins. He was driven by love. The love
that he had for his people from eternity. Love that the Father had entrusted
into him, his hands, his people. And he dies upon that cross without
spot, without blemish. purchase us. That we might receive
the remission of all our sins, all of them, all of them, every
single one of them. There's no greater love than
this, beloved. No greater love at all. The sixth point is the grace
of God is irresistible in its application, always affecting
the salvation of chosen, redeemed sinners at the appointed time.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach
unto thee, and he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thine house, even of thy holy temple. Psalm
65, 4. Blessed is the man or woman by
whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. Look at
that. In our natural state we would never approach Christ.
We would never come to him. Praise God he makes us willing.
Thy people should be willing in the day of thy power. The
last point is every true believer will preserve in grace and faith
being kept by the power of God. Being kept by the power and grace
of God unto eternal salvation. John 10 says this, and I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Never. Never. 1st Peter, turn if you would
to 1st Peter chapter 1. 1st Peter chapter 1. Philippians,
Paul wrote this, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. He will keep his people. He will
keep his people. He preserve us in grace and faith,
beloved. 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 3
to 5 said this. Peter writes this again to suffering
saints. Saints that are suffering for their faith. He says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy, and oh, His mercy is abundant, isn't
it? hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you. And I'll note these words here
in verse 5, speaking of God's people, who are kept by the power
of God. Praise God for those words. Kept
by the power of God. Through faith, right? Through
faith, God-given faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. So we've seen in our study today
that Paul not only gives true facts concerning what takes place
at Jerusalem, but he gives a good confession, doesn't he? He gives
a good confession of his faith. And those things that the Jews
call heresy, The one the Jews call heretical is the one he
trusts, the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, Paul believed what
was written in the Old Testament in the Law and the Prophets.
And he understood that by divine revelation, the special meaning
of what was written. And Paul believed in the resurrection
of the dead. He believed in it. Both of the
just and the unjust. And he proclaimed this message
that there's only one way Only one way that a sinner can stand
before God is a just one. And that's in and through Christ
Jesus. No other way. No other way at all. He knew
and proclaimed, and this was his confession. This was his
confession that God had justified all his people, all his chosen
people in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, who was
delivered for our offenses. Let us think about that this
week. Christ was delivered for our offenses, and he was raised
again for our justification. And all those who go out into
eternity without believing the gospel message of the Lord Jesus
Christ are unjust, unjust. And they will stand before the
Lord Jesus Christ, but they will stand before him without any
hope of justification before God. None at all. So rejoice and shout for joy.
If you are one of the just ones, rejoice and shout for joy. Give
him the glory because it's only because of him that it can be
said that that can be said of you to God, be the glory.