Take your Bibles if you would.
Turn to the book of Acts chapter 25. Acts 25. I want to look at the first 12
verses of this chapter. And as we've often talked, said,
that when you read something in the Scriptures, you must realize
that it's written such that the world can read it and they think
They understand it. They read the Scriptures. There's
men standing in pulpits tonight that do not believe. I know what
we believe here. I know that there's some places
that don't believe in the message of God's sovereign grace. But
they're reading out of the same Bible. This is the Scriptures,
the Holy Scriptures. And often as we go through, especially
the book of Acts, it appears as though that what you're reading
is actually historical. It's history. It's something
that happened to some people, believers and unbelievers, and
you read it and you think, I mean, I understand. I see what
they're saying. I know what they did. I understand.
But, you know, you that believe, know that these Scriptures speak
of Christ. And if we see not Christ, then
we've missed the message. I mean, I can Take these Scriptures
and expound these Scriptures in a historical way and be historically
correct. But it will not profit you if
we see not the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in
this passage of Scripture, there is a Roman governor. There are some Jews that are
accusing Paul. And there is the Apostle Paul.
Now there are the three entities that are involved here. Now we
are going to look at these first twelve verses. And as we look
at these twelve verses, this is what I have entitled this.
Are men saved by works? their works or are they saved
by the grace of God? Now my question starts off in
this way. What is the attitude of men? What's the attitude of men that
believe in salvation by works? What's their attitude? Whenever
a man, a woman comes face to face with any situation, what they believe concerning
Christ is going to permeate, whether they believe Him as their
Lord and Savior or whether they don't believe Him as their Lord
and Savior. It's going to permeate. into
their attitude. I used to tell my kids this.
A situation never changes, only the way you look at it. The attitude of unbelievers permeated from these Jews as
they spoke and accused the Apostle Paul. Now here's the question.
Is salvation by the works of men by the arm of the flesh or
is it by the grace of God? Now I want you to watch as this
scenario plays out and watch the attitude of these different
sets of people. Here is the first thing. These
Jews trusted in the arm of the flesh to accomplish what their
will was. They were against Paul. They
despised Paul. They trusted in the arm of the
flesh. Verse 1, Now when Festus was come into the province after
three days, he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Now, let
me tell you this, Festus has just took over. He just took
over. Felix was the governor before. Remember, Felix was the
one that Paul talked to last week, and we saw where Felix
told Paul after Paul had preached unto him concerning the faith
in Christ. And Paul reasoned with him concerning righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come. Felix trembled. And Felix, the
scripture says, at the verse 27, after two years, Porteous
Festus came into Felix's room. That means he took over his office. And now Festus is is the new
governor. And as soon as a new governor
comes in, these Jews had tried to get their will, their purpose
to get to Paul. They tried to get to him through
Felix. And Felix kind of held them off
by the determinate counsel of Almighty God. Peter is going
to Rome. He is going to Rome. But these
Jews have got one thing on their mind. They despise Paul because
they despise Paul's God. And what they did, they got a
new governor in. I'll tell you what we're going to do now. We're
going to get to him. We're going to accomplish our
will by the arm of the flesh. So they go, the Scripture says,
verse 2, the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed
him against Paul and besought him. We're going to be able to now
plead our case and put our wills over on. Festus, we're going
to be able to accomplish. Men that believe in salvation
by works think that by the arm of their flesh, Jeremiah 17,
verse 5 says, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh, man, his arm, his force, and whose heart departeth from
the Lord. The arm of the flesh. Men think
that they can accomplish by manipulation, by their wisdom, by their ability,
their prudence to be able to go and talk to Festus. They think
that they can get. You don't find these men casting
themselves upon the mercy of God and thinking we'll beseech
the Lord because this man Paul is wrong. They're not doing that.
The arm of the flesh. More surely that these religious
bigots trusted in Festus to accomplish their evil plot, man as he is
born in Adam trusts in the arm of the flesh and the power of
his free will to accomplish his own salvation. We're going to
have our will done, but this is the way we're going to do
it. We're going to go talk to Festus. These men secondly loved deceit
rather than the truth. Look at verse 3. They desired
favor against him that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying
weight in the way to kill him. Now, here's the thing. Three
days, verse 1 says, after Festus was coming to the province, he
ascended from Caesarea and he went to Jerusalem. Now I want
you to understand something. Paul is still in Caesarea. And
these Jews come that are in Jerusalem. They come to Festus now who is
in Jerusalem. Paul is back in Caesarea. And
they come to him and they said, listen, we would like for you
to send for Paul and bring him to Jerusalem so that we could
have our hearing done here in Jerusalem. But what was their
plot? The Scripture says, laying in
the way to kill Him. Darkness. Deceit. They weren't interested in justice.
Truth and justice are never the issues with an unbeliever. Never. Truth and justice is never on
an unbeliever's heart. John 3.19 says, This is the condemnation
that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil. These high priests
and these Jews, they attempted to make that request appear that
what they wanted was they really wanted to get to the bottom line
of this. We've got this man, Paul, and I'll tell you this,
he just seems to be one that's just causing all kinds of turmoil.
within the government and within our religion. And really, if
we can just get you to get him and bring him from Caesarea and
bring him to Jerusalem so he can have a fair trial, all they wanted to do was get
Paul out of that jail. And somewhere along the line,
I'm going to get him. Truth and justice is never on
an unbeliever's heart. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I'm
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. Men are not interested
in truth. Lies are their refuge. Unbelievers
love darkness, spiritual darkness. John 3.20 says, For everyone
that doeth evil, everyone that desires to justify himself, before
God by His evil works, hateth the light." Now, you know, when
the Lord said, they hated Me before they hated you. This Scripture
reveals, John 3.20, everyone that doeth evil, everyone that
attempts to justify himself before God by his own deeds, hates Christ
the light. Neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. These men are not only left in
darkness. The Scripture says they love
darkness. Men by nature prefer ignorance
and error to the light of truth. And we say, no, I really do want
to know the truth. The Scripture reveals the true
nature of a man. Let God be true. And every man
a liar. Well, I'm not trying to prove
this to anybody. This is what the Word of God
said. You ever notice it? Take the Scripture. In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. And men are trying as
best they can to dispute that and say that we all came from
green slime. Stuff and we're evolving and
stuff that the Scripture never sets forth to prove itself. It's
declared. Let God be true. Every man's
a liar. These men tried to convince Festus
that justice was what they wanted. And Scripture says there's there's
no God else beside me, a just God, a righteous God and a Savior. And there's none beside me. Men.
truly loved Christ. They loved justice. You know what? I was thinking
when Brother Scott was reading a minute ago, I was thinking
about the bread that came down from heaven. Here's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Almighty God, the Word made flesh
and came into this world that God could be just in dealing
with sin, in putting away the guilt of sin, that God could
be just and justify a sinner. Now, let me tell you something.
The thought that God has been just, right, fair, justice has
been satisfied, and there is no court Heaven, earth, hell,
that has anything to say that will stand concerning that which
God Almighty has done. He has absolutely redeemed us
in justice. He put away our guilt. Sometimes men speak of God forgiving
sinners and it's like He swept it under the rug and it's just,
well, that's okay. He did it for Him. He did it in Christ. He did it for Him and in Him. And He was right. I'm thinking,
this thing's not swept under a rug. This thing was openly
declared. It's finished. For the unbelievers, lies are
the foundation of his whole case. Lies. Are men saved by their
works, works of the flesh, or are they saved by the grace of
God? Everything that these Jews were doing permeated what they
truly believed in their heart toward God. Darkness, lies, conniving,
trusting in the arm of the flesh, it permeated. Listen to the lies. Verse 4 to verse 7, but Festus
answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he
himself would depart shortly thither. Let them therefore,
said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse
this man, if there be any wickedness in him. And when he had tarried
among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on
the judgment seat, commanded Paul to be brought. And when
he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem, stood round
about and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul which
they could not prove." You know what I love concerning
God's Word? God's Word answers for itself. This is God's Word. Somebody
may say to me, say, Let me ask you this. How can you prove that Almighty God, before the
foundation of the world, chose a people in Christ? How can you prove that Almighty
God loved a people, everlastingly chose them in Him? How can you
prove that the Lord Jesus Christ Put away the guilt of His people. How can you prove it? God said it. I may not be able to prove it
to you, but I'll tell you this. I'll tell you one that can. The
Spirit of God can. If Almighty God opens your heart,
I'll tell you this. This is right. It's true. And
you'll rest your soul on this. You'll rest your soul. Are you telling me that you'll
rest your soul, that believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll
have everlasting life? Yes, sir. Let me ask you this. What else do you have? What else
do you need? What else do you want? I don't
want anything else. No other options. I don't want
any other options. There are no other options. In
Him was life. I settled it. I'll tell you this,
no other proof is there. There is no other proof. Let
God be true. Every man is a liar. They had
all kinds of accusations, complaints, which they could not prove. No proof. This is our proof right
here. God's Word. Well, these weighty,
heavy, Burdensome complaints. They were revealed here in verse
8. It says, while he answered for himself. Here was Paul. Paul
listened to what they said. Neither against the law of the
Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar have I
offended anything at all. Paul said, you guys are liars. You've made up those same accusations
right here, two different times, back in Acts 21 and 28. In Acts
24-12, you go back and read them, it's the same thing. You're against
Caesar, you're against our religion, and you're against Moses too.
No. I tell you, when it comes to
the unbelievers' hiding place, the only truth that establishes
their position when it comes to the unbelievers' hiding place, that is, where
they have made themselves a hiding place. The only truth that reveals
where they really are is the Word of God. Listen to this right
here. Isaiah 28, 15, Because ye have said, We have made a
covenant with death. You know, when I read that just
a moment ago, I jotted this down just a second ago. There's no
mention of God's covenant. There's no mention of God's Word.
There's no mention of God's purpose. There's no mention of God's will.
It says, we made a covenant with death. Boy, I'll tell you this, I think
about when David said, this is all of my hope. This is all my
salvation. He made an everlasting covenant
with me. And here they are. We made a
covenant with death. And with hell, we're at agreement. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have
made lies our refuge. And under falsehood have we hid
ourselves. The Spirit of God just absolutely
just opens up what a believer really is thinking. An unbeliever
will sit here and think I have made my eternal salvation secure
because I have exercised my free will." And the Scripture says,
this is what you said. You made a covenant with death.
And with hell, you're at agreement. When the overflowing scourge
comes through, lies, that was your refuge, you're going to
be swept away. Liars. I tell you, these religionists
that hated Paul could not prove their accusations. And the unbeliever
who has made lies his refuge is not going to be able to back
them up with the Word of God. Heaven and earth is going to
perish. Heaven and earth is going to be put away. Heaven and earth
is going to be gone. But the Word of God is going
to endure forever. Now, that's the attitude of an
unbeliever. Arm of flesh, that's his strength. Lies, that's his refuge. Honor, truth, justice, he'll
have none of it. It permeates everything he does.
And here's my second point. What is the foundation of those
that believe that salvation is of the Lord? What is their attitude? I've got one answer. They believe
God. That's my answer. They believe
God. Not that they believe in God.
Demons believe in God. Everybody believes that there
is a God. But they believe God. They believe
Him. That, my friend, is a whole lot
of difference between believing in God and believing God. Abraham, Romans 4, 3, believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Not his
faith. It doesn't say that Abraham was
justified by his faith. That would make his faith to
be his work, and that justification is not by the works of men. Abraham
believed that Almighty God justified him by grace. That the righteousness
of Christ, and Abraham saw the day of Christ. He saw the glory
of Christ. You know, I've read that scripture,
Abraham saw my day. He was glad. I've thought about
that scripture and I've wondered about it. I know that Abraham
saw the day he believed the Lord. That's what he's saying. He saw.
But you know what? Abraham saw my day. I think about
that day that Abraham had been told by God, I want you to take
your son Isaac, your only son, and I want you to take him to
the place that I'm going to show you. And I want you to take him
there and I want you to sacrifice him as a burnt offering unto
Me. Abraham, he didn't talk to Sarah
about it. Between Abraham and God. He took
that boy. He took those servants. And he
was going to sacrifice that boy. Three days. Three days journey. He got to think about it. And
he came to the place. And God said, this is the place. Abraham told the men that were
with him, he said, the lad and I are going to go up here and
worship. Isaac, going up with him, he said, Father, he said,
here's the wood, here's the fire, but where's the lamb? Abraham said, God will provide
Himself a lamb. He put that boy on an altar.
It doesn't say struggled. He raised that knife up in the
air. As far as he was concerned, that boy was gone. But he was
fully assured that God would raise him up. Because in that
boy, there was God's promise going to raise up a seed Through
Isaac. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He raised
that knife. God stopped him. He said, Abraham,
I know. I know. You'll withhold nothing
from me. There's a ram caught in a thicket. You take that ram as a substitute
for that boy. And he took him down. He put
that ram up there. He saw substitution. Almighty
God provided Himself a Lamb. What's the difference in those
that believe in salvation by works and salvation by grace? They believe God. They believe
God Almighty has put away their guilt. He believes that God Almighty
has set forth His Son. He tried to appease these Jews. Look at verses 9 through 11. Festus, willing to do the Jews
a pleasure, answered Paul and said, Will thou go up to Jerusalem,
there be judged of these things before me? Then said Paul, I
stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To
the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For
if I be an offender, or have committed anything worthy of
death, I refuse not to die. But if there be none of these
things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar." Then Festus,
when he had conferred with the council, answered, "'Hast thou
appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar thou shalt go.'"
Paul the apostle said, he said, "'I have not done what these
men have accused me of doing. He knew that Almighty God was
going to send him to Rome. He believed God. But I'll tell
you this, at the heart of Paul's assurance, we just sat and looked
through all of those verses at how these Jews, attempting to
accomplish their will, arm of the flesh, darkness, no justice,
no truth, no love, And here's the Apostle Paul. And as the
Apostle Paul sets forth his answer, his assurance, I want you to
behold the blessed confidence that Paul had in his innocence. He knew there was no just charge
that would be laid to him. I want you to listen to the attitude
of this innocent man. And as you listen, I want you
to read with me again verse 11. As I said a while ago for an
unbeliever, everything he does permeates nothing more than his
flesh, his arm, his injustice, his darkness. Listen to this
man, Paul. And here was where his settled
heart stood As he rested in God, not only in this case right here,
but before Almighty God, this was his confession. For if I
be an offender or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse
not to die. That is, I will beg or I will
ask for nothing else. If I'm guilty, if I'm guilty,
then I'm not going to ask you to spare me. If I'm guilty of
the things which I'm accused, what can I receive? Paul was
saying, but justice. If I've been a rebel against
God, against Moses, if I've been a rebel against the temple, if
I've been a rebel against our religion, if I've been a rebel
against God, then I have nothing else to say. I tell you this,
I bet you Paul's position in Christ raced through this apostle's
mind. When you find yourself in a dire
strait, do you know the first thing that a believer is going
to do? He's going to flee back to the hope of his security,
the Lord Jesus Christ. These Jews, Paul's enemies, had
falsely accused him just as the believer is accused of Satan.
Revelation 12, 10 says, For the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before God, before our God, day and
night. I think about when Satan came
to the Lord and the Lord said concerning Job, Have you considered
my servant Job? A just man, justified, a justified
man. Satan said, Oh, well, yeah, I've
considered him, but I can't get to him. You got him hedged, hedged
him about, you know, accuser, accuser, accuser. Paul had been
accused by these Jews, just as God's people are accused by Satan. But just as Paul knew that he
was innocent, that's what he said, listen, I stand, verse
10, at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged to
the Jews. Have I done no wrong as thou very well knowest?" Paul knew that he was innocent. And I'll tell you something,
the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ stands before Almighty
God without fault because He hath made Him sin, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Is there any presence of sin
in me? Yes. If we say we have no sin,
we make God a liar. Is there any chargeable sin found
on a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. No. No. There's not one chargeable sin,
Brother Scott. It's on your account right now
before God. You have nothing to answer for. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. None. Satisfaction of absolute
justice for all that Christ died, Isaiah 53, 4 and 5. Surely He
hath borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem
Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded,
tormented for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
were healed. His guilt was our guilt. Mine iniquities, He said, have
taken a hold. My sin is what He was made. And He atoned, covered by His
blood. And we stand absolutely uncondemned
before God Almighty. There is no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Paul said back in that verse
11, if I be an offender, and oh how I know in myself I have
been, but I'm going to tell you something, Christ Jesus the Lord
was made an offender. If I have committed anything
worthy of death, And I have. And He was made sin for me. And now, right now, I stand absolutely
in the Lord Jesus Christ, uncondemned. Paul says, if there's anything
that I've done that's worthy of death, He died for me. I appeal to Caesar." Paul said, I appeal to the highest
authority in this Roman government right here. And I'll tell you
this, a believer enters boldly into the throne of grace. in the person of our blessed
Savior to the very throne of God. And we in Christ say, Father, Abba, accept it in the Beloved. Oh, the preciousness! of the
Lord Jesus Christ who has put away our guilt. The presence
of sin is here. And we see it. But oh, the blessing. Paul said, if I've done anything
worthy of death, thanks be unto Him who is our substitute. Now, if you want to look at me,
I'll tell you, I've done some things worthy of death, but when
I say that He was made sin for me, He put it away and cast it
as far as the east is from the west, behind His back. That's His words. Accepted. Smiled. Peace. Reconciled. What glorious thoughts! Is salvation by the works of
the flesh or by grace? I'll tell you this, salvation
is by grace through faith. And that not of yourself, it's
the gift of God.