If you will take your Bibles
and turn with me to Acts chapter 24. Acts the 24th chapter. This morning we'll be looking
at verse 15. Acts chapter 24 and verse 15. The title of the message this
morning is the resurrection of hope. The resurrection of hope. Now last week we saw seven gospel
truths that all false religion calls heresy. And we got that
from verse 14 where the Apostle Paul says, I confess unto thee
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I, the
God of my fathers, believing all things which were written
in the Law and the Prophets. And we saw that the gospel, the
true gospel, is only found in the Word of God. It's only found
in the Bible. It's the only source of faith
and practice. We saw that God was absolutely
sovereign over all things, providence in creation and in grace. The truth of the gospel is that
man is absolutely depraved by nature and cannot please God. Number four was the unconditional
election of God, that God chose men not based on anything they
would do, but of His own sovereign will. Chose a race of people,
a certain number of people He would save. Number five was the
effectual, accomplished redemption of Christ. In other words, the
Gospel tells of a victorious Savior, not of one that made
salvation possible, but one that has accomplished salvation for
His people. Sixth was the irresistible grace
of the Spirit to chosen sinners when He comes and applies the
Word of God to our hearts and gives us life. And seventh, we
saw that everyone who believes on Christ will be preserved unto
the day of Jesus Christ." Those are seven unalterable truths
of the Gospel. And Paul said, this is how we
worship God. This is whom we worship. We worship
the only true God, and this is how He is worshipped. Now this
morning, I want us to continue in verse 15 in our study in Acts,
where Paul testifies of his hope and the hope of every believer. Verse 15, he says, have hope
towards God, which they themselves also allow that there is a resurrection
of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. Paul here
confesses before these wicked men that all his hope, all of
his confidence that he has in this gospel that he preaches,
His worship is to be found not in the outcome of this trial.
His hope, his confidence was not in the outcome of this mock
trial. His hope, his confidence was
only towards God. He said, my hope, my confidence
is not in the circumstances of this life, not in the comforts
and pleasures of this life. My hope is in God. My hope is
in God. And so this tells us that every
believer's hope is to be in God. Our hope, our confidence, our
assurance, Our joy, our peace, everything that we hold dear
is to be only towards God. If any man had any reason to
be cast down, do you not suppose that Paul had a reason? Do you
not think that he had a reason to feel sorry for himself? This
man was put on trial and he was innocent. There he was in the
temple, he was minding his own business, and these Jewish thugs
came in, they beat him over the head, they took him out of the
temple, and they were about to kill him for no reason. No reason
other than they hated the gospel he preached, and they hated him. And not only this, they had no
proof of his crime. This is the third trial. We have
come to the third trial of the Apostle Paul. He has now been
brought before Lysias, he was brought before the Sanhedrin,
and now he is brought before Felix. This is the third trial
and they have not offered one shred of evidence against him. Not one. Just accusation. Friends, we complain if our car
breaks down. We complain, and the whole world
is a mess if we have rain, if we're being flooded. I mean,
we've had so much rain here, and you know what I hear? Oh,
I just can't stand the rain. Well, we complain about everything. Friends, the flesh is drawn to
the circumstance of this world, is it not? Is not our flesh drawn
to what happens to this body? If everything goes well with
this body, are we not happy? If something goes wrong with
this body, are we not sad? This flesh is constantly changing
its hope. It's constantly changing its
attitude. The happiness of the flesh is
contingent solely upon what is based or happens to us in this
life. Job 20, verse 12, one of the
men that was Job said this, he said, The wickedness be sweet
in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue. The natural
man and this flesh think that the wickedness and conditions
of this world are sweet. The natural man, his sweetness,
his joy, his hope, his pleasure, his happiness depends upon false
religion or what he can see. If he can't see it, it doesn't
make him happy. But this is not to be for us
who worship God and the sacred trinity of His persons. This
is not to be our hope. Our happiness, our confidence,
does not depend on what we see. It's not dependent upon what
we see. Our hope should not be based on what we see in this
life or the circumstances. Our hope should only be found
in God our Savior. And that's it. Titus 2.13 says,
looking for that blessed hope. That's what we're to be doing.
We're to be looking for the blessed hope. Not looking at what is
happening. Not looking at the circumstance. What sorrow and fear come over
us when we take our eyes off God? When we look on the providences
of life, that come to us, it's then we begin to complain, isn't
it? When we look at what's happening
to us, it's then we begin to complain. Why? Because we've
taken our hope off of God. We've placed our happiness and
our hope upon what's happened to us. Do we not believe the sovereignty
of God? Do you believe that God is in
control of all things? Do you believe the Scripture
which says, He worketh all things, all things, all things after
the counsel of His own will? Do you believe that? Well, if
He rules all things after the counsel of His own will, then
what is His will towards you? What is God's will towards you?
Go to Jeremiah chapter 32. Look at this, Jeremiah 32. Now
this is God's will towards you. Jeremiah chapter 32. If you don't
have this mark, you should. Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse
40. This is God speaking, and He
says, And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from
them, to do what? To do them good. And I will put My fear in their
hearts, and they shall not depart from Me. What's God's will toward
you? Is it not toward your good? He said, I will not turn away.
I'll not forsake this promise that all things are for your
good. In Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse
15, God says this, Thou shalt not see evil anymore. So then what is happening to
you? Is that evil? Not according to what God says. God says, nothing. Nothing evil shall befall you,
but everything shall work to your good. Was this mock trial
good for the Apostle Paul? Did this end well for Paul and
his testimony? Of course it did. Was not Paul
beheaded? Did he not go to Caesar because
of this trumped up charge? And did he not have his head
chopped off? Of course he did. Absolutely. But I tell you that that was
for the Apostle Paul's good. And not only for his good, but
for our good. Because of this, because of this
trial, we have his testimony. His testimony has been secured
by the Spirit of God forever for us. And when the Apostle
Paul, when his head left his body, his soul was ushered into
the presence of God where he had longed to be years before.
He said, for me in part, that's far better. He said, matter of
fact, I wish it were so. But for your sakes, I'm here.
You see, the Apostle Paul, it was for his good. Who was the
victor in this thing? Well, the world says that Caesar
was the victor, that the Jews were the victor. They killed
the Apostle Paul. Who was actually the victor?
The Apostle Paul was. And the Jews and the Romans,
they ended in destruction. They went to hell. Who was the
victor? The Apostle Paul. Who'd this
work out for? The Apostle Paul. And so then,
everything that works in this life works for our good. Believer,
let our hope and confidence not be in this world or what we see
in the flesh, but let our hope be in God. Let not our contentment rest
in bonds or freedom, in health or sickness, in sun or rain,
or life or death. None of those things should factor
into our joy. None of them. None of those things
matter. Our hope is to be with God who
is ruling all things for our good and His glory, and is right
now moving all things for the salvation of His elect people. Believer, it was God our Father
that chose us. It was God the Son that redeemed
us. It was God the Holy Spirit that called us to life and faith.
Is there anything then that would ever come that wouldn't be for
our good? If God has given us that, how
shall He not with Christ freely give us all things? All things
that are good for us. Believer, our hope and confidence
should be in God. Second of all, the believer's
hope is to be fixed on the resurrection of the just. Look at that. Paul
says this in our text. He says, In verse 15, he says,
"...and have hope towards God which they allow, that there
shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of
the unjust." Let me ask you this, is it not
evident that life is fleeting? Is it not evident that the days
that we have are few? Job says this, a man is born
of woman is of a few days and full of trouble. I thought about this. The average
lifespan of a man is around 75 years. I calculated that to be
27,375 days. That may sound like a lot, but it's
not. I tell you that some of you are real close to that mark. Some of you may have already
passed that mark. I'm not going to ask. I know this, I'm over halfway
to this mark. My life is half over in the statistical
realm. If God purred venture, I should
last that long. But none of us are guaranteed
that many days, are we? None of us are guaranteed that
many days. I like this song, it says, I'm
a flower quickly fading. Here today and gone tomorrow,
a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind. The psalmist says in Psalm 103,
As for a man, his days are as grass, and as the flower of the
field, so he flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it, and
it is gone, and the place thereof knows it no more. How long do
you suppose after we die that anybody will remember us? I imagine only about a generation
or so and we'll be forgotten altogether. How important then are the thoughts
and cares of this world? How important are the things
of this life? You only have about 27,000 days
to use and most of them are gone. And no promise of tomorrow. Today
may be your last day. Today may be the last day that
God calls your soul to Himself. Friends, there is a resurrection.
There is a resurrection from the dead because all men die.
All men die. Death has been determined. Seeing
the days are determined, Job said, and the number of the months
are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds and he cannot pass."
You can't add one day and you can't take away one day from
a man's life. God has set his bounds and that's
where he'll die. But oh, how men boast of tomorrow! How they'll build bigger barns
and they'll say to their soul, Soul, eat, drink, and be merry. How many people say, well, if
I just get to this particular point in my life, all will be
well. But God says, thou fool, thou
fool, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day
may bring forth. If death is to come upon you,
then what is your hope? What is your hope? What is your
confidence of standing before God? You know that all men realize
they have a soul. Even the heathen in their pagan
religions believe that the soul would live on forever. Every
religion believes in some essence that the soul of man continues. There's no doubt about that. But where will your soul go in
death? The Scriptures tell us that after
death there's an immediate judgment. An immediate judgment. If you
remember the rich man and Lazarus, the Scripture says that they
both died. And Lazarus was carried into
the arms of the bosom of Abraham in heaven. And the rich man lifted
up his eyes, being in torment. Immediate. Immediately their
soul was in its place, where it's going to be forever. There
is no middle path when the soul leaves the body. It is either
in heaven or it is in hell. There is no middle ground. Those who believe on Jesus Christ,
my friends, will be ushered into the presence of God, and those
who believe not will be damned. Mark 16, 16, "...he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be
damned." But that's not the end. That's the immediate result of
death, the physical death of this body. The soul is ushered
to God, but the body dies. The body goes into the ground. The body sleeps in death. But one day, my friend, God,
as He has judged the souls of men, He will also judge the bodies
of men. Paul tells us his hope was toward
God in this one thing, in the resurrection. Paul said, my hope
is not in you. My hope is not in the end of
this trial. My hope is in God who will raise me from the dead. There is coming a day in which
all men will stand before the great white throne of Jesus Christ. He will, as God, the Creator
of all men, call both small and great. and both heaven and earth
and the sea and all the bodies of men that have ever lived on
the face of the earth, God will call them at one time and they
will come up out of the graves and they will meet with their
souls and stand before the eternal God and be judged. No man will defy Him. Every man's body will appear
whole before the judgment and be judged according to his works.
Revelation 20, verse 12 and 13 says that. He said, I saw the
dead, both small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened. And another book was opened, which was the book of
life. And the dead were judged out of those things were written
in the books according to their works. The sea gave up the dead
that were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead that
were in them, and they were judged every man according to his works." So then they were judged not
according to their sincerity, were they? They weren't. God didn't look at their sincerity
and say, well, gee, you were really sincere. No. They were judged solely based
on the strict justice of God. And so will every one of us.
Every one of us will be judged solely on the plumb line of the
law of God. Every one of us. None of us will
escape the justice of God. None of us. And unless a man
is holy, unless a man is perfect to stand before God, he will
be cast into eternal hell forever, both body and soul. Who then has hope? Who then has
hope to stand? How could Paul say, I have hope
in the resurrection, if that is true? How can we say we have
hope in the resurrection if that is true? Those who one day will be separated,
on that day there will be a great separation. Jesus Christ will stand as the
judge of all men and He will separate some on His right hand
and others on His left. Those on His right hand, the
Scripture calls His sheep, His elect, His redeemed, His holy
and peculiar people. Those are the ones on His right
hand. The ones on His left hand are goats, hated of God, and
those who would trust in their own righteousness. The ones on
the right hand shall be declared before God and all His creation
to be opened the books, and on their charge there will be a
blank page. Nothing. Justice looks at their
charges and they say, all those on the right hand are innocent
and free to enjoy the kingdom of God forever. Believer in Christ, we have a
good hope that no matter what happens in this life, we have
a life, our life is the life to come. Believer, we are just and shall
receive the resurrection of the just. We have been declared holy, not
because of ourselves. There was no difference in those
on the right and those on the left. When God divides them,
there is no difference in them by nature when they were in this
world. There was no difference by them in their sinful depravity. There was no difference. We were
all born children of wrath, even as others. If God would judge
us based on our own works and righteousness, we would be on
the left. We wouldn't be on the right. So then what makes the difference?
What makes the difference? How then can one receive the
resurrection of the just? Now friends, I'm interested in
that. My soul is interested in that, and I tell you, since it's
going to have to deal with you, you should be interested in that.
How is it that I can be on the right hand of Christ? How is
it that I can be just and holy before the judgment seat of God?
Well, the only one that made the difference was God. The only
one that made the difference between the two was God. God
made the difference, and how did He do that? By a resurrection. By a resurrection. Revelation 26 says, blessed and
holy is who? He who has part in the first
resurrection. You see, my hope is in a resurrection. It's in a resurrection. Not just
the resurrection of my body, but the resurrection of my soul. Friends, there are not multiple
physical resurrections. There's only going to be one.
When God comes, when Christ comes, that's the end. He's not going
to come, raise up a few, go away, come back, raise up a few more,
go away and come back, raise up a few more. No. When He comes,
it's the end. And He'll raise us all up bodily
at once. But friends, in this world, there's
a resurrection that is necessary in order to receive the resurrection
of the just. And that is the resurrection
of the soul. Colossians 2 verse 13 says, And
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath He quickened? Hath He resurrected together
with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses? Jesus said,
the time is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. This is the call of Jesus Christ
to dead sinners through the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Are there any sinners who would
be free from the power of sin? Are there any sinners who would
be free from the penalty of sin? Are there any sinners who would
long to be free from the presence of sin? You got one here. I'm one. Then repent and believe
on Christ. Those who repent and believe
on Christ, they shall have life. They shall have life. Have you experienced the resurrection
of your soul? If you've not experienced the
resurrection of your soul, your faith is vain and empty. All
true faith comes by a resurrection. A new life that must be given. A life that shuns the world and
its pleasures and serves only Christ. Believes only Christ. Trusts only Christ for all His
righteousness. If you have that, you have a
resurrection. You've been given a resurrection
of the soul. And the soul now thrives on the
gospel. It feeds off the gospel. So that
my hope is kindled in me to know that this life is not my home. This world is not my home. My
hope is not here. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And all who do, they have
a resurrection. A resurrection. And therefore
we may rejoice and preach the resurrection, because if Christ
is not risen, then we have no hope. Isn't that right? I know
this, that I'm going to be raised from the dead because Christ
was. I know I'm going to have a hope
of being justified before God because Christ was risen. How else can anyone know if Christ
satisfied the justice of God? I tell you, according to Scriptures,
if Christ did not rise from the dead, there is no hope for man. There is no hope. Paul said,
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, and you are yet
in your sins. Then they that are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. And if in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we of all men are most miserable. Is this not why the enemies of
God try to disprove the resurrection so much? Of course it is. Because if they can prove Christ
did not rise from the dead, every one of us are sitting here with
a vain, empty hope. But you know what? The tomb is
empty. The tomb is empty, Christ is
risen, and no one could prove otherwise. Do you not think that
if they could prove that in the days that Jesus rose again, that
they would have not done it? Why do you think they were so
mad at Paul? Because they couldn't disprove the resurrection. The
tomb was empty and they could not. They knew it was true. They knew it was true. And because
we know it's true, friends, we know that God is satisfied with
His sacrifice. We have hope because our Savior
is risen. Our Savior is risen. You have
hope. You have a good hope. cling to that hope, no matter
what you see. And you'll find comfort in this,
that Christ will one day, we one day will die, and our souls
will go to be with God. But that's not the end, because
He's coming back also to retrieve our bodies. And so then our body
and soul will be reunited and will worship God in an incorruptible
body, it never gets tired. It never gets weary. It's never
going to be molested with sin again to interrupt our perfect
communion with Christ forever. Who here gets tired when they
study? Who gets tired when they worship?
Weary. Oh, the flesh, it just pulls
and drags us down. And we cry in our hearts, we
want that so much. One day we'll have it. One day
we'll have it. Keep your eye on that. And don't
worry about what happens here. Worry about that hope in God.
Pray God blesses to your heart.