Acts chapter 24. Acts chapter 24, entitled this message,
My Hope of the Resurrection. My Hope of the Resurrection. Now to give you a little background
here, the Apostle Paul is standing trial. He's standing trial as
an innocent man. He was worshiping God in the
temple, and you remember those Jews came in and took him and
would have killed him, and God had sent that man Lystras to
him, and spared him, and now then he has been brought before
this man Felix, this governor of the region. And they had brought this smooth-talker
lawyer in to prosecute the apostle Paul. Of course, all he had was
allegations. He had no proof, no evidence
of Paul's sedition. In fact, Paul had only said,
he said, look, I've only been there 12 days, how could I stir
up anything? I hadn't been there that long.
He said, there's no proof. Look at that in verse 13, Paul
defending himself here now says, neither can they prove the things
whereof they now accuse me. And so Paul in verse 14 says,
look, if I'm going to confess anything, here's my confession.
And what they said is a lie, but here's my confession. Verse 14, But this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship
I the God of my fathers. The way they call heresy. Now in this time before they
were called Christians, people were called the people of the
way. You know why? Because we believe
there is only one way to God. There's only one, by one, man
you are able to approach under God, and that is Jesus Christ. He said, by this way, by Jesus
Christ, I worship God, which they call heresy. They call heresy. When the Apostle Paul said that,
he was talking about the Gospel as well. The Gospel is what they
accused him of heresy. Now there are seven truths of
the Gospel that Paul preached that religion called heresy. First of all, Paul said The Bible,
the Word of God, is the only source of faith and practice.
Now what he said in the next thing, he said, verse 14, So
worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the Law and the Prophets. Friends, the Bible is the only
source of faith and practice. Not church creeds, not the traditions
of the fathers, not what this man said or that man said, but
what saith the Lord. This is the only source of faith
and practice. I care not about the opinions
of men. I only care does God say it. And if God says it, that settles
it. That's it. So the only source of faith and
practice is the Word of God. Now friends, this is horrible
to the religious world. They can't stand that. They've
got to have some tradition. They've got to have some church
fathers to tell them what to do. They've got to have some
creed, some confession of faith. Secondly, Paul believed in the
absolute sovereignty of God in all things. In all things. Let me say it again. All things. God is absolutely sovereign and
does completely and absolutely what He determined before the
world to be done. God says, I am God and there
is none else. What does that mean? There's
none else. That's what that means. God is alone God and there is
no God beside Him. He said, declaring the end from
the beginning. from ancient times the things
that were not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. Now what is happening in this
world is exactly according to the purpose of the sovereign
God who sits on the throne of heaven. And men hate this. Men say, I will have my way.
Well, you're just doing what God said you'd do. Just doing
what God decreed you would do. Even the crucifixion of Christ,
though it was their will to do it, God determined it to be done. So you mark this down. Whatever
is happening in this world is exactly what God determines to
happen. Thirdly, Paul preached the absolute,
utter depravity of man. that men by nature are born sinners. Paul said, David said this, they
come forth from the womb speaking lies. You hold a baby in your
hand, you say, oh, how innocent. No, he's guilty. He's guilty. Why? He died in
his father Adam. Man is absolutely ruined so that
he cannot and will not come to God. Jesus said this, no man
can come unto me. Now you don't have to be an English
major to understand that that has to do with ability. The word
can means ability. He has no ability to come to
me except God do something for him. And listen, He will not come.
Jesus said, You will not come to Me that you might have life.
This is because man is ruined by the fall, completely ruined. Fourthly, Paul preached the unconditional
election of God. He said, Beloved, we are bound
always to give thanks to God for you, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. If you are saved, it is because
of the unconditional election of the sovereign God. Not your
will, not your ability. Remember, you have no ability.
And if you've come and you do have the ability, this is because
of God's unconditional election for your salvation. He chose you to salvation. Fifthly, the Apostle preached
the effectual, accomplished redemption of Christ. What does that mean?
It means he accomplished redemption for everyone that he died for.
All those that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all He hath given me, all He hath given me,
all He hath given me, I should lose nothing. I'll tell you, plainer speech
could not be spoken. I'm not going to lose one of
them. Why? Because I'm going to redeem them
from all their iniquity. I'm going to redeem them. And
Jesus said it plainly, it is finished. He told us that everything
God required for our redemption, He completely fulfilled. Sixly he we Paul preached the
irresistible grace of the Sovereign Spirit Listen, I'm preaching
to everyone here and you hear my voice But I know this no one
can make this word effectual to your heart except the Spirit
of God Try as you may Determine if you will, but I know this
Except God touch your heart. None of this gonna make any sense
None of this gonna be any good to you but when he wants to It
will. In the appointed time, He comes
to everyone God chose and everyone Christ died for, and He gives
them life. Listen, without their permission.
You don't need your permission. He's the Sovereign Spirit and
does whatsoever He will. Now that's God. Any other God
is not God. Any other God's not like that.
That's not God. That's some puny, pygmy God. some God man carved out of a
tree stump. Our God is sovereign. He does
what he wants to. When he wants to, ain't nothing
could stop it. Jesus said, those the Father
give me shall come to me. The scripture says, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. And the last thing
is this, everyone who believes on Christ will continue to believe
on christ into the air because they're kept by the power of
god peter c why are you still here you believe have you not experience
great troubles because of your faith and yet you still here any credit to you any glory to
you Now, it's all him. It's all him. Now listen, everything
I said modern religion considers heresy. Just like they did Paul. It's
not changed. It's not changed. But this is
what I confess. That's what I confess to be the
gospel. That Jesus Christ is all my hope and standing before
God. And all the glory belongs to God. Now, let's look at the
next verse here in verse 15. And Paul said, "...and have hope
toward God, which they themselves also allow that there shall be
a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust."
Paul said, I have hope toward God that there shall be a resurrection. I have hope toward God. This
is the first thing I want you to see here. is Paul's hope,
Paul's confidence. That's what the word hope here
means. It means rock-solid assurance and confidence. It is not a wishful
thought. When he says, I have hope toward
God, he said, I am placing everything I have, my whole soul, my whole
life, my whole standing, every circumstance of my life, my hope
is in God. He said, I don't care what you
do to me. My hope's in God. It's not in
you. Isn't that something? He said, I ain't hoping to you,
Felix. I'm not hoping that you'd give me a reprieve or let me
go. My hope is in God. My hope is in God. Now listen,
if Paul had a reason to be, if anyone has a reason to be cast
down, shouldn't it not be Paul? I mean, he was worshiping God. He was doing well. And immediately
these thugs come in and beat him nearly to death. They drag
him off, would have killed him, then they put him in chains in
prison. He's now been in prison for for
a long time. This is his third trial. This
is his third trial. Over nothing. They had no charges
against him. They had no evidence at all.
And yet, this is the third trial. If anybody had a reason to be
cast down, surely Paul had a reason to be cast down. And yet, how often do we complain? we get a little sick we get a
little distraught a little stress somebody not treating us the
way we want to be we think we're being uh... worked over by wicked
men And yet we still murmur, we're
quick to murmur and quick to complain, and we are slow to
give thanks and praise. You know why? We're not hoping
in God. If we had confidence in God,
we would not complain, not murmur. This flesh that we have in this
life is drawn, is like a moth drawn to the flame concerning
circumstances. Is not the happiness of the flesh
of man solely based on his circumstance? The happiness and confidence
and peace of the natural man is based on what happens to him
in this life. Job said this, though the wickedness
of man be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue.
You know what wicked men do? They're actually chewing gum. And man, you're just rolling
that over in your mouth, getting that flavor. That's what wicked
men do with sin. They just roll it over. They just chew on it. They love
it. And so then their happiness is
based on that, the flavor of sin. The flavor of the circumstance,
the flavor of the moment. To natural man, his sweetness
is only found in pleasing his flesh. His happiness depends
on this world, upon his false religion, upon what he can see,
touch, and feel. But this is not to be for us
who worship God and the Trinity of His persons. Our hope should never be based
on what we see or feel in this life. Our confidence, our joy,
our happiness, our peace should never be based on our certain
circumstance. It should always be in God. Always. Our hope is found only in God
our Savior. Our joy, our peace is found in
Jesus Christ, who does not move, who does not change. Therefore,
our hope, our joy, our peace does not change. It's immutable. Our acceptance with God does
not change based on circumstance. I know you feel it does, but
it don't. It don't. Paul told Titus, looking
for that blessed hope. Are you looking for that blessed
hope? What is the blessed hope? It
is the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ. That's a blessed hope. That's our hope. And listen, what sorrow and fears
come over us and take over, our eyes filled with tears, When we look at the providence
of God, instead of looking at the God of providence, we're looking at the circumstance
instead of the One who orchestrated the circumstance. Is it not because we have doubted
God's sovereignty that we fear? That we tremble? Is it not because
of our unbelief? It is. Paul said, look, I confess
this, I have hope in God. I don't care what you do with
me. I have hope in God. He rules you. He knew God ruled
these men. And this circumstance was no
happenstance. It was purposed of God. He hoped
in God. Paul says, in whom, in Christ,
we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him, listen, who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. Believer, what is God's will
for you? That's what I want to know because
the circumstances move me. They do. Trials and troubles,
usually my first instinct is always wrong. first knee-jerk reaction of a
circumstance is always incorrect. What is God's will then for me
in all the circumstances? Here it is. Good. Whatever is taking place is perfectly
planned and purposed for your good. I like this, Jesus was about
to go away and he said this to his disciples, he said, what
I do now thou knowest not, but you will hereafter. Listen, whatever's going on,
you don't know what he's doing, but you will know hereafter.
All you need to know is this. It's for your good. Isn't that
the covenant? Is that not the covenant that
God made with us? He said, I will make with them
an everlasting covenant. An everlasting covenant that
I will not turn away from them to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts
and they shall not depart from me." Is that not a good hope? God willed it, now who's going
to stop it? Who will stop him from doing you good? The only
reason we fear is because we believe something is stopping
God from doing us good. Hope in God. Trust in God. How do you know God is going
to do you good? You don't deserve it. Isn't that right? That's
the first thought that comes to my mind. I don't deserve good. How can God promise me good when
I know what I deserve is not good? Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse
15. Listen why God is going to do
you good. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. You got that? All the judgments
against you for your sin, God says, I have taken them away. You know what he did with them?
He nailed them to the cross. And what does the song say? I
bear them no more. Praise the Lord. This is why
I know God's going to do me good, because all my sin is gone. Thy
judgments are taken away. What about my enemy? What about
the enemy of my soul? Is he not stronger than me? Yes,
he's stronger than you. But listen to what God says.
He hath cast out thine enemy. He took him away. He can't accuse
you anymore. And even more important than
that, he said, the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst
of thee. He said, not only am I going
to do this, take away your judgment, kill your enemy, I'm going to
live in you. You know that God lives in you? And so we question, why? Does
He not know? Did He not hear? Does He not
care? Of course he does, he's right
there. He's never left you. Hope thou in God. He said he's
in the midst of thee. And listen to this promise. Thou
shalt not see evil anymore. Do you believe that? Do you believe that everything
that happens to you is not for evil? Well, God said it, didn't He?
Thou shalt not see evil anymore. So whatever it is not evil, it's
good. This mock trial, was it good
for Paul? Did it work out well for the
Apostle Paul? Now listen, he didn't get out
of jail. Matter of fact, they sent him to Caesar and eventually
he was beheaded according to tradition. He's dead. He died. So did it work out good for him?
You bet. You bet it did. It worked out for the Apostle
Paul because as soon as he died he was ushered into the presence
of God. Now where are his enemies? Where are all those who accused
Him? Where are all those who despised
Him? Where are all those who hated Him? They are in hell,
and they've been there close to 2,000 years. Who won? Who won? Paul or his enemies? Who got
the better, Paul or his enemies? You know Paul did. And not only
did Paul get the better, but so did everyone else. Isn't this
written for us? Hope thou in God. Is that not
good for us to hear? Paul said, I confess, I hope
in God. Doesn't that move you to hope in God? Well, so his
trial was good. I'm glad he had this trial. I'm
glad he had to speak in this trial. I need this message. And
think of all the other brethren who were made bold by His boldness. He tells us that in Philippians.
He said, look, because of my change, many people are made
bold. Are you not made bold by His
boldness? You should be bold. You should be confident. Not
in you, but in God. I'm very confident in God. You
should be very confident in your God. Let us hope and have confidence,
not in what we see, not in the flesh. Let us hope in God. Let us not be content, not our contentment
rest in our bonds or our freedom, our health or our sickness, in
sun or rain or life or death, but let all our contentment be
in this, in God, that He is ruling all things for your good. That
should give you great contentment and peace. Well, they took everything
I have. My hope is in God. Let them have it. What is it? What have we lost? Not lost anything. Matter of fact, we're the gainers
in everything. In everything we gain. Consider, believer, that it is
God who chose you. It is Christ that redeemed you.
It is the Spirit that calls you and keeps you How then shall
He not with us freely give us all things with Him freely? God
gave us His Son. If He gave the best, how should
He not give us all the rest? He gave us everything. Why then
should we complain? One man wrote this. He said,
let me not speak of the sovereignty of God and then complain of my
lot in life. He said, that's inconsistent,
isn't it? You can't do that. You can't, on the one hand, confess
sovereignty and then complain of your lot. Hope thou in God. And let's see
this second point very quickly. Every believer's hope, then,
is fixed on the resurrection. Go back to your text. Paul said,
my hope is in God. My hope is toward God. that there
shall be a resurrection of the dead." Believer, isn't it very clear
this life is fleeting? Isn't it clear? We're very busy. I know we get busy, we don't
think about this, we're just busy about our work. You should
be. But it's good to contemplate the brevity of life. It's good.
Young people, you really should contemplate the brevity of life.
Matter of fact, I was listening to Brother Don and said that
there was, in his town there, a two-year-old was killed. Sad, isn't it? But yet we know this, it is appointed
unto men once to die. And life is fleeting. Life is
fleeting. Man is born of woman is of a
few days and full of trouble. The psalmist says, as for man,
his days are as grass as the flower of the field. Now that's
the weed of the field. Not talking about the rose, he's
talking about the weed. That's what our life is. You
see those little dandelions that blow in the wind and they're
gone? That's us. One puff of wind and we're gone. And listen,
when we're gone, how long will it be before we're forgotten? One generation and we don't even,
we're just a memory in pictures, right? You show up, oh I know
who that is. We're gone. Nobody's going to
remember we were here. Friends, death is determined
to all men, and no man will escape it. Job said, seeing his days
are determined, his number of his months is with thee. Thou
hast appointed his bounds, and he cannot pass. I started doing
some exercising, trying to lose weight, trying to feel healthier.
I want to do that, and you know, it's a responsibility. We should
try to take care of ourselves. Nothing wrong with that. You
know I'm not going to add one day to my life by doing this? Nope. God says your bound is
right there and you exercise all you want to but ain't going
anywhere. It's right there. You can eat healthy all you want
to. This is your day. It's appointed. Everyone has
an appointed day and the appointed means by which you will leave
this life. All of us will. There's coming
a day when God, that we will all stand before the great white
throne, judgment of God, and He will... God is our Creator. He will bring both small and
great, and none will be able to defy Him. The scripture says,
I saw the dead, both small and great, stand before God. And
the books were open. And another book was open. which
is a book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things that were written in the books according to His
works. And the sea gave up their dead that were in it, and death
and hell delivered up their dead that were in them. And they were
judged, every man, according to his works." Listen, all of
us are going to be judged not based on our best efforts. God's
not going to judge on a curve. I know you didn't, you lied,
but you really tried not to lie. No, that's not how it's going
to be. You lied. Eternal death is the reward of
every lie, of every sin. So then what is our hope? Who
has any hope? I like this. There were books,
and then there was a book. All men were judged out of the
books. Either that book or that book. God takes the book and
He sees the name of a man and He sees all of the sins of that
man and judges on him according to the works. Out of the books,
He judges them. But listen, all who are in Christ,
you know what He does? This is kind of over-exaggeration. God doesn't really have any books.
This is just for us to understand. He takes the book and he looks
for my name and he finds my name, but there's nothing there but
blots. Red blots. Page after page after
page of nothing but red, blood-stained blots. And so then he looks in the other
book and sees, well, his name in this book. you know that is
the book of life all those that were represented by the lord
jesus christ are written in that book and all who are in that
book shall we have this is my hope that i'm in that book I'm
in Christ, and His blood hath blotted out all my transgressions,
so that in that day when we stand before God in the resurrection,
I have hope, I have confidence in this, that not one sin will
be found against me." Not one sin. Why? God says, I, even I,
have blotted out thine iniquity as a thick cloud. In Jeremiah chapter 20 and verse
50, Jeremiah 50 and verse 20, God says this, in that day, in
that day and that time, the sins and iniquities of Judah shall
be sought for and they shall not be found. There shall be
none. How do I know my name is in that
book? Well, I want you to know this. There are two resurrections.
Two resurrections. One's spiritual, and the other's
physical. In that same passage there in
Revelation, he said this, They that have taken part in the first
resurrection, The second death hath no power. This first resurrection
is spiritual. Listen, have you been born again
of the Spirit of God? Have you been? You must be born
again, Jesus said. There's no other way. You must
be born from above. Have you been born from above?
Are you born again? Are you quickened from the dead?
How do you know? Friends, it's not some feeling,
it's not some lightning bolt that strikes you, it's this.
Do you believe on the Son of God? Because faith is the evidence
of a new life. Faith is the only evidence. When
one flees from himself and flees to Christ, that is the evidence
of my life. I'm alive because of faith in
Christ. And that faith is not of myself.
That faith is a gift of God, not of works. And so we who have
been quickened, we have this hope that in the resurrection,
in the resurrection of the dead, we will be perfectly accepted
of God. And I know this because Christ
himself is risen from the dead. Paul said he was the first fruits.
He was the first fruits of them that slept. Why do you think
people try to disprove the resurrection so much? Because Paul said, if
Christ be not raised, then all this is vain. If they ever find
the body of Christ, we're all messed up, right? He said, that's
just not going to happen. He's been risen, saw 500 people. He left himself so many witnesses,
it was impossible for them to mistake his resurrection. And
because He is raised, I have hope in His blood, I have hope
in His righteousness, that in that day I shall be like Him." Is that not a hope? Is that not
something that you can stand on? Is that not something in
the very teeth of your trouble that you can find some peace,
some comfort, assurance. You just sit down and let the
world just roll by. I'm safe. My hope is in God. Listen, where's your hope? You
have any confidence at all? You're going. all that you can adhere in this
life is going to be gone the only thing matters is the
are you in christ you're in christ you have a good
You have a good standing. I like this, when God says, Behold,
I lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone.
He that believeth shall not make haste. What does that mean? We ain't going anywhere. I'm
like Peter. Lord, to whom shall we go? I'm just going to sit on the
rock. My hope's in God. may god help us to keep our eyes
fixed on that not move and listen you'll you'll have
some comfort you'll have some peace that nothing else could
give god keep our lips for murmuring
and complaining but always fixing ourselves on pray god blesses