Acts chapter 24. I'm going to
read the first 14 verses of Acts 24. It says, After many days, after
five days, Ananias the high priest descended with the elders and
with a certain order named Tertullius, who informed the governor against
Paul. And when he was called forth,
Tertullius began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we
enjoy great quietness and the 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, notwithstanding
that I not be further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou
would hear us of thy clemency a few words. We have found this
man, this man Paul, a pestilent fellow. a mover of sedition among
all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect
of the Nazarenes, who also hath gone about to profane the temple,
whom we took and would have judged according to our law. But the
chief captain, Lysias, came upon us with great violence, took
him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee.
By examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all
these things, where have we accused him? And the Jews also assented,
saying that these things were so. Then Paul, after the governor
had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know
that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do
more cheerfully answer thee for myself. Paul says, I can speak
for myself in this matter. Because that thou mayest understand
there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem
for to worship, And they neither found me in the temple disputing
with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the
synagogues nor in the city, neither can they prove the things whereof
they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee."
This is where our title comes from here this morning. This
I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy,
so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets, and have hope toward
God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." Paul says what men call heresy. He says the way which they call
heresy, the way that they call heresy, Now heresy, I look this
up, it's a belief or opinion that's contrary to what most
believe. It means to be at odds with what's
generally accepted, to kind of go against what's generally accepted.
I don't know if you've noticed, but most people in religious
circles, they tend to get along. They tend to agree. There's really
nothing that upsets them. They'll talk about good works.
You can stand around the lunchroom and talk about good works all
day long and nobody's going to get upset. Talk about reading
your Bible. Talk about going to church. Talk
about praying or getting your heart right with God. You can
listen to those things around the lunch table. And no one's
going to get inflamed, no one's going to get upset about that.
Talk about things like that all day long and not be at odds or
not be contrary with anyone. But those things that take away
from man's glory, those things that take away from man's pride,
man's arrogance, man's self-righteousness, those things that give God All
the glory. That's what men call heresy. That's what gets religious people
upset. It goes against man's pride.
Back in Daniel 3, just a couple examples of this. Back in Daniel
3, Nebuchadnezzar, he made that image of gold. The height of
it was three score cubits high. It was 90 feet tall. And he told
the people, he said, when you hear the music, when you hear
the music, bow down. Bow down. To not do so, it would
go against what the common practice in that time was. To not do so
would mean that you were at odds with what most people in that
community were doing. Because when they heard the music,
they were going to bow down. And he said, if you don't bow
down, there was a threat involved there. If you don't bow down,
you'll be cast. You'll be cast into that fiery
furnace. And in all that place, I don't
know how many people lived in that time, there were three men,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And they said to the king, they
said, we'll not be careful. We'll not be careful to answer
you in this matter. That kind of sounds like heresy. I bet
that sounded like heresy, didn't it? They said, if it be so, our
God, our God whom we serve, he's able, he's able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace. And he will, he will deliver
us out of your hand, O King. But if not, even if he doesn't,
be it known unto thee, O King, we'll not serve thy gods, nor
worship the golden image that you set up. just a few pages over in Daniel
6. Remember the story of Daniel? Some of the servants, they said,
we need to find fault with this man. But there's only one way
we'll find fault with him, and that'll be concerning his God. And they convinced the king to
make that royal decree that no one would ask a petition of anyone save the king for those
days that would pass by. And Daniel didn't change a thing
he did, did he? Daniel went back to his home
and he opened the windows and he bowed down to pray. He made
his petition unto God. Again, that rule said no petition
would be made to anyone but the king for 30 days. What did it say? Look, turn to
Daniel 6. Just turn over there and look at that. Daniel 6. Let's
just read this. Look at verse 10 of Daniel 6. It said, when Daniel knew that
the writing was signed, He went into his house and his windows
being open, he wasn't hiding anything, he wasn't hiding from
anyone. He went in his chamber and he kneeled down. He kneeled down upon his knees
three times a day and prayed and gave thanks just as he had
done before. The common practice. The common
practice was to worship a false god, to worship the creature. to worship, basically to worship
the king. And to do otherwise, to do otherwise
would be considered heresy. And you know Daniel was cast
into that lion's den. The Lord delivered him. Well,
Paul says here in our text, back in Acts 24, he says, the way
which they, the way which the world calls heresy, so worship
I the God of my fathers, believing all things, all things written
in the law and in the prophets, those things written in God's
Word. Now, what we believe, what we
believe, what God has revealed unto us, what God declares are
not things that men commonly believe in our time. That shouldn't be surprising,
should it? We can go back in the Old Testament and all the
way up until now, we can see that that hasn't changed anything. That hasn't changed anything.
God's Word declares this, there's a way, there's a way that seems
right to man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Well,
Paul writing to the Corinthians, and he said this, he said the
natural man, The natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. Foolishness to him. Neither
can they be known, because they are spiritually discerned. They have to be revealed. These things don't conform to
the natural mind. Well, quickly, quickly this morning,
I want us to look at Just a few things. Just a few things that
men in Paul's time and men in our time call heresy. And the first one is this. In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Men still call that heresy. Men
say that the earth started with a small singularity and that
it inflated over the next 13.8 billion years. I always wonder
how they come up with things like that. But you know the Epicureans,
they were present in Paul's time, and when Paul preached in Athens,
they said the earth, the Epicureans believed that the earth came
by chance, that it just came by chance. Paul said this, God
made the world, God made the world and all things He had to declare that in his
time. And we continue to declare that in our time, in our day. I think, and I can't remember
this for sure, I had it written down in an old Bible, and I think
John Chapman said this. He said this, if what men say
about evolution and creation is true, that you could take
a set of four Michelin tires and an engine block and put them
in a garage and shut the door and then wait 20 million years
and a brand new Cadillac would pop out of there after that time.
We laugh about that. That had to be John Chapman who
said that. We laugh about that. But men, think about what men
believe and think about what God has revealed in us. In the beginning, in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. Well, second, what men
call heresy. They call the fall of man heresy. Now, they'll say man slipped. They'll say man was injured by
the fall. But they say man can straighten
himself up. Man can pull himself up by his
bootstraps. Man can do this, man can do that. God's Word says that he fell.
He told Adam, he said, in the day that you eat thereof, thou
shalt surely die. Man is dead in trespasses and
sin. Word of God says this, the wages
of sin is dead. It's dead. And let me ask you this, what
can a dead man do? What can a dead man do? He can do nothing. Dead. And if
we're dead in trespasses and sin, we can do as much or less
than that man that lays in the grave. Nothing. Look at Genesis 3. Turn back
to Genesis 3. We begin with verse 9 of Genesis
3. And the Lord God called unto
Adam, and he said unto him, Where art thou? Adam said, I heard
thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked
and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that
thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree
and I did eat. Our ability to take any responsibility
has not changed either, has it? And the Lord God said to the
woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said,
The serpent beguiled me and I did eat. The Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly
shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life. I put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
it shall bruise his heel. Unto the woman, he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, and sorrow shalt
thou bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband. He shall rule over thee, and
add him, he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground
for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it
bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return
to the ground, for out of it Out of the ground you were taken,
thus thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. As an atom, as an atom, all die. We're all dead. We're sinners. Sinners by birth, sinners by
choice, sinners by practice, It's what we are, sin. Third, this way men call heresy,
the sovereignty of God in all things, in all things, in creation,
in providence, and in salvation. Earlier, we read from Genesis
1 when in creation, God created the heavens and the earth. He's
sovereign in providence. Turn to Daniel chapter 4. Listen
to what King Nebuchadnezzar says here. Let's begin with verse 34 of
Daniel 4. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven. My understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High. I praised and
honored Him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an
everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to
generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are as reputed as nothing. He doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? He's sovereign. He's sovereign
in providence. You know, about a month ago,
about a month ago, you guys know Jackie was scheduled. She was
scheduled for that surgery. over at Cabot, and it's something
that she'd been waiting on for a long time. It's something we'd
been waiting on for a long time. That Friday morning, she was
supposed to go in at 6.30 and have that surgery. Thursday night,
she got a phone call, and they said, sorry, but there's some
kind of dust on the equipment, and every surgery, Every elective
surgery in that hospital, as I understand, was cancer, was
struck. And, you know, we were disappointed. Why? Why would this happen? First thing we think about is
ourself. Why would this happen? She's
been waiting. She's been in pain. She's been
suffering. And that day, That day, Jackie's
mom had been ill for some time. Hospice come and picked her up
at 6 o'clock that evening. Had Jackie been in that surgery,
she wouldn't have been able to spend those last few hours with
her mother. Half the family would have not
had that time. We would have been at the hospital
with her. Her recovery. That's just one little thing
that we've been able to see. Think of all the events, all
the events that are constantly going on. We have no clue about
it. God's sovereign in providence. Well, we think about that scripture,
all things all things work together. And I always, I think I always
miss those first two words. We know, we know all things work
together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are the call according to his promise. We know these things. We forget, but we know these
things. And then listen, he's sovereign
in salvation. God is sovereign in salvation. In his letter to
the Ephesians, turn to Ephesians 1. Look at verse 11. In whom also? In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Salvation, salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Nothing, nothing shall be able
to, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of
God. which is in Jesus Christ our
Lord. You know, men might be able to
go along with the idea that God's sovereign in creation. There's
some that'll agree to that. Some will even say that God's
sovereign in prophets. You bring this up in the lunchroom,
there's going to be trouble. God's sovereign in salvation.
God is absolutely sovereign in salvation. Turn to Luke chapter
4. Look at verse 27. Go back to verse 25. God's right to save whom He will. God's power to save whom He will. Men want to say that salvation
is by man's will or man's work, but look here beginning with
verse 25. I tell you the truth. I tell
you the truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when great famine was throughout all the land. But
unto none of them. Unto none of them was he sent,
save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was
a widow. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha the prophet. And none of them, none of them
were cleansed, saving what? Saving Naaman the leper, Naaman
the Syrian. Listen to how the religious people
responded to that. Look at verse 28. And all they
in the synagogue... These were church-going people
here. All they in the synagogue, when
they heard these things, They were filled with wrath. And they
rose up, and they thrust him out of the city, and they led
him under the brow of the hill whereof the city was built, that
they might cast him down headfirst. Rather than rejoicing, rather
than giving thanks that God would even save one, they were filled with wrath.
And it wasn't enough just to cast him over the hill, they
were going to cast him over the hill head first. The message of God's sovereignty
and salvation, it infuriates, infuriates the natural man. Turn over to John chapter 1. He was in the world, verse 10,
John 1. He was in the world and the world was made by him.
The world knew him not. He came unto his own and his
own received him not, but as many as received him. To them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe
on his name, which were born, not of blood, Not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man. They were born of God. Fourth, the sufficiency of Christ's
blood. The sufficiency of Christ's blood.
Men talk about the blood. They'll talk about the blood. Listen to them for a minute,
or don't listen to them for a minute, because here's what they'll say.
They'll talk about Christ's blood, but it'll be Christ's blood plus
their works. It'll be Christ's blood plus
their giving. It'll be Christ's blood plus
their baptism. It'll be Christ's blood plus... Just draw a line there and fill
in the blank. It's never just Christ's blood. It's Christ's
blood and something... It's always something else. But
God's Word declares that to be a false gospel. What false preachers declare
is that Christ's blood is not sufficient. Because if it was,
there'd be no need for anything. They wouldn't be declaring a
need for anything else. Christ's blood is sufficient
to save in anything less. Anything less than that is a
false gospel. Paul speaking to the Galatians,
he said, I marvel that you're so soon removed from Him that
called you into His grace unto another gospel, which is not
another gospel, because there's only one. But there be some of
you, some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 1 John 1, verse 7 says this,
the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Not Christ's blood for us or
anything, but Christ's blood and Christ's blood alone cleanses
us from all sin. What men call heresy, God creating
the heavens and the earth, the fall of man, man's deadness and
trespassing sin, God's sovereignty in all things, the sufficiency
of Christ's blood, and fifth, that the Lord Jesus Christ was
made sinless. Men declare that to be heresy. They call that heresy. Turn to
2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 5. Look at verse
21. The Lord Jesus Christ, who knew
no sin, was made sin for his people. That's what's declared
in the scriptures. Our high priest became he, us. Consider this, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he's holy, he's harmless, he's undefiled, he's separate
from sinners, he's made higher than the heavens. Habakkuk said,
thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. He should be counted unholy,
that He should have all the iniquity of all His people of all time
placed on Him, laid on Him. He was He that's one with the
Father, the Lord Jesus Christ who's one with the Father, God
in human flesh, that He should be made accursed for His people. Listen to the rest of this verse,
that we, that we might be made the very righteousness of God
in him. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin. He, look unto me, look unto me and
be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I'm God. I'm God and
there's none else. He was made, he was made sin. Acts 24 verse 14, Paul says, this I confess unto
you, this I confess unto you, that after the way, after the
way that men call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers,
believing all things written in the law and in the prophets. What are some of those things
written? God created the heavens and the earth. Man's dead in trespasses and
sin. God's absolutely sovereign in
all things. The sufficiency of Christ's blood,
His blood and His blood alone, that the Lord Jesus Christ would
have made sin for His people. Let me ask you this, who gets
the glory in that? God gets all the glory in that. Read on, Paul said, and having
hope toward God. For this reason I have hope toward God. which
they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection
of the dead, both of the just and the unjust."