Well, I wish I could express
just how excited I am. I look forward to seeing what
the Lord is going to do here, and I'm just so excited. I. I
love this family. Known him long time. Hannah always
was in our house when she was a kid. Been grew up with Aubrey
and. And Paul Mindy are so dear to
us and just I'm just so excited. I would like you to turn to Acts
21. My title for this message is,
Wherein Do We Differ? Wherein do we differ? Beginning in verse 27 of Acts
chapter 21, like I said, my text is Acts 24, 14, but I want to
read some scriptures that lead up to that. And when the seven days were
almost ended, the Jews, which were of Asia, when they saw him,
Paul, in the temple, stirred up all the people and laid hands
on him, crying out, men of Israel, help, this is the man. that teacheth all men everywhere
against the people, and the law, and this place, and further brought
Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. For they had seen before with
him in the city of Trophimus in Ephesians, whom they supposed
that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was
moved and the people ran together and they took Paul and drew him
out of the temple and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they
went about to kill him, these people were mad, weren't they?
They were angry. They wanted to kill Paul. Tidings came into the chief captain
of the band that all of Jerusalem was in an uproar. who immediately
took soldiers and centurions and ran down unto them. And when
they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating
of Paul. Then the chief captain came near and took him and commanded
him to be bound with two chains. And he demanded who he was and
what he'd done. Now, Paul is rescued at this
time by the Roman soldiers. And so they're taking him up
into the castle. And he says, I want to say something to the
men who were beating me. I ask your permission, I want
to say something to them. Look at chapter 22. Men, brethren, and fathers, hear
ye my defense, which I make now unto you. And when they heard
that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept them more
silence. And he saith, Now at the end
of what he said in verse 22 of this same chapter, after he spoke
to them and they gave him audience unto this word and then lifted
up their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth,
for it is not fit that he should live. They were mad. Now, they believed supposedly
in the same God, so they thought. They worshiped from the same
book. They read the same book, but what a difference there was. They wanted to kill Paul. Now, after that, Paul is delivered
to Felix, was kept in prison for a while
and look in chapter 23 verse 12 and while he was in prison
verse 12 and it was day when it was day certain of the jews
banded together and bound themselves under a curse saying that they
would neither eat nor drink till they had killed paul now these
people were mad They said, we'll die before we let him live. We won't eat or drink until we
kill him. That's how upset these people
were. Now, Paul tells, Paul's nephew
tells the Roman centurion about that. And so he says, well, we'll
protect you. We'll get you to Caesarea and you'll preach before
Agrippa and tell him what it is that's going on. Now look
in chapter 24. And after five days, Ananias,
the high priest, he was one of the ones who hated Paul and wanted
him dead, with the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullus. They hired him an orator, someone
who could move the crowd. And he informed the governor
against Paul. And when he was called forth, Tertullus began
to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoyed great
quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation
by thy providence. We accept it always and in all
places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. He's quite
an orator, isn't he? He's buttering them up. Notwithstanding that
I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldst
hear of thy clemency a few words. Now he starts talking about Paul.
For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, an infectious disease. a mover of sedition. He doesn't
bring people together. He divides. He separates among
all the Jews throughout the world. And he's a ringleader of the
sect, the heresy of the Nazarenes, who also had gone about to profane
the temple, whom we took and would have judged according to
our law. But the chief captain Lysias came upon us and with
great violence took him away out of our hands, commanding
his accusers to come unto thee by examining whom thou thyself
May take knowledge of all these things wherever we accuse him.
And the Jews also assented saying these things were so he had a
bunch of Jews and there's everything he's saying is true. Then Paul.
After that, the governor had beckoned unto him to speak answered. For as much as I know that thou
hast been of many years a judge into this nation, I do the more
cheerfully answer for myself, because that thou mayest understand
that there are yet but 12 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
synagogue nor in the city, nor can they prove the things whereof
they now accuse me. But, and this is my text, but,
This I confess to thee, I plead guilty here, after the way which they call
heresy. So, and notice he doesn't say
that's how I believe. So worship I, the God of my fathers,
believing all things. which are written
in the law and in the prophets. Now, obviously there was a great
difference between Paul and the Jews, a great difference. They both claimed to be the,
believe the Bible, but there was a great difference. They
believed him to be a heretic worthy of death. Now, I think
it's interesting. You had the Pharisees and the
Sadducees. They were the conservatives and
liberals of that day. They hated each other. They couldn't
get along. But when it came to hating Paul
and the gospel he preached, they could get together. They could
get together. What was the difference? Wherein
did they differ? Now I want to bring this to the
present day. Wherein do we differ? Why are y'all meeting like this? A lot of bigger religious assemblies
with more money. more programs for the kids, and
so on, all the things people would say. Why? Wherein do we differ? Now, I live in Lexington, Kentucky.
It's a town of about 300,000 people, and I don't know of one
church I shouldn't call it, I don't
know of one religious assembly there that preaches what we do
at Dodge Road Grace Church. Don't know one. Now there may
be. I haven't been in all the churches, but the ones I know
of, I don't know of one that preaches what we do. Are you saying you're the only
one right and everybody else is wrong? No, but I am saying
if someone doesn't preach the gospel that I preach, they do
not preach the gospel of God. That's what I am saying. Wherein do we differ? Wherein do you differ? Wherein
do we differ? Well, it's not natural character.
We're not better than anybody, and we're not smarter than other
people. Just average Joes. It's not in form and organization.
It's not in religious dress. It's not in the way we observe
the ordinances, but we do differ. Paul said, who made you to differ
from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? We do differ. Now, where in do we differ from
all these other churches? Where did Paul differ from the
Pharisees and the Sadducees? Well, here's my first point.
We have a different God. A different God. The God they
worship is not the God of the Bible. He's a weak God. He's a pygmy God that doesn't
deserve the name of God. His will is subject to man's
will. He can't do what he wants to
do unless men let him. He's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the living
God. He's the living God. He's the
independent God. You know what that means? It
means He doesn't need you. He doesn't need me. He said the
cattle on a thousand hills are mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell you about it. He's the sovereign God. That
means He has a will. That means he has the power to
make his will come to pass, and he always does make his will
come to pass. Paul said, after the way that
they call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers. Now God is as the Bible declares
him to be. Holy. Sovereign. There's only
one sovereign. That means He controls everything
and everybody. He's the first cause behind all
things. If you're saved, it's because He saved you. Salvation
is of the Lord. God is God. Now, if you have
a God that you can please, there isn't much to Him. He's not very
holy. If you've got a God whose will is subject to your will,
And he can't do what he wants to do unless you let him. There's just not much to that
God. That's a false God. That's the
figment of man's depraved imagination. Wherein do we differ? A different
God. The God of the Bible. Wherein do we differ? Well, we
have a different view of the scriptures. What do I mean by that? Well,
look at this text in verse 14. But this, I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I, the
God of my fathers, believing, what's it say next? All things,
which are written. in the law and in the prophets. What does a man have to believe
to be saved? I've heard that question asked so many times.
What's a man have to believe to be saved? Everything God says. Everything. What do believers
do? They believe. They believe all
things that are written. Paul said to Timothy, Timothy,
preach the word. Does the Word declare that God
elected a people? Preach it. Does the Word declare
that Christ accomplished salvation for the elect? Preach it. Declare it. Does the Word declare
that without faith it's impossible to please God? Preach it. Does the Word declare that faith
without works is dead? Preach it. Preach the word, whatever
God's word says, preach it. Now it doesn't do any good at
all to say that you believe the Bible is the inspired and inerrant
word of God and not pay any attention to what it says. I mean, that's
just an exercise in foolishness. Preach the word. Here's an example.
How many people say they believe the Bible is the word of God
and yet they reject predestination? Yet the Bible says whom he did
foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son. We believe all things that
are written. We have a different view of the
scriptures, believing all things. Now, that doesn't mean I understand
everything. Matter of fact, I want to say
this carefully, but I don't much understand anything I believe.
I just believe it. I don't understand how God can
be one God in three persons. I just believe it. I don't understand
eternal union with Christ, how I've always had personality before
God, and I've always been in the beloved. I don't understand
that. I just believe it. I don't understand how the Bible
can be preserved as the inerrant word of God, but I believe it
is. I don't understand how Christ
could die for me. I don't understand how God could love me, but I
believe it. I believe. Believing all things
that are written. Wherein do we differ? Well, we
have a different view as to what took place in the Garden of Eden. This is where we differ, and
this is very, very important. Somebody once said, wrong on
the fall, you're wrong on it all. And that's the truth. Wherein do we differ? We have
a different view as to what took place in the garden. Now, most
believe when Adam fell, he became a sinner through that fall, but
few believe he became dead in sins. Now, what is meant by this
thing of being dead in sins? Well, you put a corpse out here
and play him some beautiful music. He can't hear. Show him a beautiful
painting. He can't see it. He has no appreciation
of it. Put the best tasting food you
can in his mouth and even help him chew. He doesn't get anything
out of it. He can't taste it. Dead in trespasses
and sins. Give him the most beautiful smelling
fragrance there is. He can't smell it. He's dead
in trespasses and sins. He can't feel. He's dead. Now the natural man, according
to Ephesians 2.1 says, and you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins. Now understand this. God said to Adam, in the
day you eat thereof. Now notice he didn't say if you
eat. He said when you do. When you do. This was all part
of God's purpose. This was all part of God's will. Once again, I'm fine with that,
aren't you? I'm fine with anything God does.
Whatever God does is right. I hate that some worm in the
dust sitting in judgment on God, deciding whether he thinks he
ought to have done that or not. Whatever God does is right. Whatever he
does. And he purposed the fall of Adam.
And what would we know about mercy if there was never a fall? What would we ever know about
the forgiveness of sins? What would we ever know about
the grace and the love of God if there were no fall? Now, God
said, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, Adam lost the ability to
hear the word of God. Oh, he could hear it audibly,
but he couldn't understand it. You know, the Lord said, why
don't you understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word,
you lack the ability. He couldn't see any beauty in
Christ. A dead man can't see any beauty in Christ. They can't
see any beauty in the way of salvation by grace. He can't
taste grace. You know, grace has a beautiful
taste, doesn't it? A wonderful taste. He can't taste it. He
can't feel. He's unmoved by the gospel. He
can't see himself, he can't see God, he's dead in trespasses
and sins. The natural man cannot perform
the functions of spiritual life, dead in sins. What that's called
is total depravity. Now, what's that mean? Does that
mean everybody's out committing crimes and doing just as bad
of things as, no, it doesn't mean that. I'll tell you what
it does mean. It means men are totally depraved. It means that Their affections
are evil. They love what they ought to
hate, and they hate what they ought to love. It means their
will is chained to sin. There's no such thing as free
will. The will is controlled by the nature, an evil nature,
an evil will. The understanding they can't
understand. Dead in trespasses and sins. Now, what happened when Adam
fell? He became dead. Now, regarding
this thing of human nature, what we are because of the fall of
Adam, you can have four different views of human nature. First,
you can have the evolutionary view. A lot of folks do. We just
keep getting better. Just keep getting better. Evolving,
evolving. Man doesn't need a savior. And then there's the blank slate
view. You're kind of born with a blank
slate and however you're influenced and how the examples you're given
and the education you're given, that's the way you're going to
go. Well, if that's the case, man doesn't need a savior, he
needs an educator. And then there's the view that most religious
people have, that Adam's fallen, but yet and sinful and he messed
up and he's bad and he sins and he does bad things. but he still
has the power of the will where he can choose the good and reject
the evil, where he can choose Christ. Well, if that's the case,
man doesn't need a savior, man needs a persuader, someone to
persuade him. And then there's the view that
men, what the scripture, it's not a view, it's the truth. Men
are dead in sins. Now that man needs a savior. That man needs a savior. Wherein do we differ? Our Lord put it this way. No
man can come to me. He didn't say no man may come.
You can if you will. He didn't say no man may come.
Anybody who comes to Christ will find mercy. Anybody. You don't need to figure out
whether or not you're one of the elect. You don't need to figure out whether
or not Christ died for you. You come to Christ. and you'll find
mercy, any man. But no man can come to me, except
the Father which has sent me, draw him. Lord, draw me. That's my response to that. Lord,
draw me. Draw me to yourself. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. This thing of inability, depravity. What happened in the garden and
to believe in free will or moral ability is to not believe in God, not the God
of the Bible. Wherein do we differ? We differ
as to what took place in eternity. Before time began. Now most people
believe that God made a plan. You know that word plan is not
found in scripture. Did you know that? It's not even in there. God's
got a wonderful plan for your life. You've heard things like
that. Most people believe that God made a plan that he hoped
would be carried out in time. But as to that plan being carried
out, it was left open-ended, dependent upon what men do. We
believe no such thing. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. And Revelation chapter 13, eight
called Christ the Lamb having been slain from the foundation
of the world. Understand that? No, believe
it, absolutely. Before time began, God chose
a people to be saved in his son. And listen what the scripture
says about these people. For whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now, all of those are spoken
in the past tense. This isn't a prophecy about what's
gonna take place. It's what's already been done.
Now, what took place in eternity? Now, remember this. God is not
bound by time and space like you are. There's another thing
I don't understand. We can't possibly understand it. One day is with
the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day.
But what did take place in eternity? Turn to Hebrews chapter four,
if you would. Hebrews chapter four, verse three. For we, which have believed do
enter into rest. What do you do when you rest? You don't do anything, do you? You rest. For we which have believed
do enter into rest, as he said, as I've sworn in my wrath, if
they shall enter into my rest. Now look at this statement. Although
the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
everything God has done was finished before time began. And I like it that way, don't
you? I like it that way. You see, if God had to wait till
time to do something for me, all he'd do is send me to hell.
But thank God, in eternity, in his son, accepted in the beloved,
everything he did, everything, including the death of Christ.
I mean, that's scripture. What do we believe was done in eternity?
Everything. Everything. And we like it that
way, don't we? And beloved, we differ as to
what took place on the cross. We differ as to what took place
on the cross. Now most believe that Christ
made salvation possible. We believe no such thing. When
he said, it is finished, the salvation of God's elect was
accomplished. Most believe that Christ died
for all men without exception. We believe no such thing. He
said, I laid down my life for the sheep. Now I understand this,
with regard to this thing of Christ's atonement for the elect,
the only hope I have, the only hope that I have is that Christ
died for me. That's it. I don't have any other hopes.
And if you tell me he can die for somebody and they wind up
in hell, I'll wind up in hell. I'm sure of that. Now, I take
this very personally. This is why it's so important.
My only hope is his, when he said it is finished, my salvation
was accomplished. Hebrews 10, 14 says, for by one
offering, he hath perfected forever. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Most limit the blood of Christ,
the saving efficacy of the blood of Christ to the will of man.
Everybody believes in some kind of limited atonement. You either
believe it's limited by the purpose of God or you believe it's limited
by the will of man. Which is better? That's a no-brainer,
isn't it? Most believe that when Christ was dying. There was some kind of role play
going on. The father looked at his son,
son, I'm going to treat you as if you did these things. The great mystery of the cross, what all it means we don't know.
But Christ Jesus the Lord cried out, my God, my God, why has
thou forsaken me? And the only reason God would
forsake him is because of sin. Christ was made sin to this point.
He said, I'm a worm. I'm not even fit to be called
a man, no man. Most people believe that there'll
be people in hell for whom Christ died. No way. Would God punish the same sin
twice? God's just. God's just. Aren't you thankful for that?
The absolute justice of God. There was a, this is a true story.
There was a brush fire. with wind coming at this group
of people. I mean, the fire was coming,
and a very wise man said, put the brush in front of us on fire.
And it just started going that way. And so when it burned a
while, they all got in that place where the brush had already been
burned. And when that fire came, they
were safe. They were safe. You see, it couldn't
be Burned again when it had already been burnt. He actually put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's wherein we differ. What
Christ did on Calvary Street. Now you think of this. These
are very different God. Different God. That's enough right there to
talk about. Wherein do we differ? We differ
as to what happens in a sinner's heart when God saves him. Now
you listen real carefully. This is just as important as
everything else. Some believe that when God saves
someone, the old nature is changed and improved. Don't believe that
for a second. Not even for a second. That's
a lie. That's a lie. Somebody that professes something
like that, all they are are hypocrites and dishonest. Lost all credibility. Many believe faith must come
before life. Nope. Don't believe that for
a second. Many believe you can have life
without faith. Don't believe that either. Not
for a second. Some believe you can have Him
as Savior and not as Lord. Nope. Nope. He's not your Lord. He's not
your Savior. See, when God saves a sinner,
He gives him life from the dead. A new heart that was not there
before. And you know, I know even in
my own experience, there was a time when I tried to figure out what
it was to believe, and I couldn't figure it out. I wanted to believe,
but I didn't know what it meant to. I wanted to repent, but I
didn't know what it meant. Then one day I found myself believing.
That's the way it was. I found myself believing. I found
myself in a state of repentance. I am right now. Why? God gave me a new heart. A new heart also will I give
you. And that man becomes a bond slave,
a follower, a disciple, a lover of Jesus Christ. He lives. He believes, he loves. Wherein do we differ? Here's
the last thing I'm gonna say. Wherein do we differ? We differ
as to the content of the gospel. You know, these are all the same
points, aren't they? I mean, just say it a little differently,
but so, we differ as to the content of the gospel. Turn with me to
Romans chapter one. While I'm thinking about this
point, I keep thinking about another scripture that goes with
one of the points that I didn't bring out that I'm going to go
ahead and do something I don't normally. I'll bring you one
of the scriptures about that part about what happened in eternity.
Don't let me mess your train of thinking up. But 2 Timothy
1.9 says He saved us. And He called us. Which came first, the Savior
or the calling? I'll shut up, Rupert. Romans chapter 1, verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. And you know, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel I preach. It's worthy of God. I'm proud of the gospel
I preach. It's worthy of God. I'm not ashamed
of it. I glory in the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is just what I need. It's
perfectly suited to save somebody like me. This is exactly what
I need. You know, we talk about the doctrines of grace or the
doctrine of grace, whatever it is. You know, it's one thing
to believe the doctrine of grace. It's another thing to need the
doctrine of grace. It's one thing to believe in
total depravity. It's another thing to be totally depraved.
Now, if you're totally depraved, you need God to elect you, don't
you? You need Christ to die for you. You need the grace of the Holy
Spirit to be irresistible and invincible. You need to be preserved
so you'll persevere. You need. All the difference
in the world, you need. This isn't just a correct doctrine. I mean, I love that, but it's
the doctrine of God. It's the truth. It's, it's, it's,
it's the doctrine, which is according to godliness. We have a different
belief regarding the content of the gospel. The gospel of
God is the power of God into salvation. And if the gospel
is not preached, no life comes. There's no life apart from the
gospel of God being preached. Now, I don't want to be in any
way... Today's religion is like same-sex
marriages. It can't produce life. It can't
produce life. It's only the gospel of God that
produces life. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
for it is the power of God unto salvation. No life comes from
a works message. You put works at the beginning,
middle or end, there's no gospel. Now you put works at the beginning
when you make man's will the deciding factor. You put works
in the middle when you say a man is made more holy and more saved
by what he does. You put works at the end when
you say a man earns a higher reward in heaven by what he does.
Any way you look at it, that's a message of works. No life comes
from that message. No one's born again. No one's
born from above. No one is saved through that
message. The gospel is a declaration of
what took place in eternity. It's a declaration of what took
place in the garden. It's a declaration of what took
place in the cross. And it's a declaration of what
happens in a sinner's heart when God does something for them. We differ from this religious
age, don't we? We differ. And there's no point
in pretending we don't. There's a huge difference. And
I say to you what Moses said to his father-in-law, we are journeying to the place
where the Lord said, I'll give it to you. Come with us. We'll do thee good. For the Lord hath spoken good
concerning Israel. Amen.