Acts 28, we'll look at verse
23 first. Luke writes, when they had appointed
him a day, talking about the Apostle Paul, there came many
to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the
kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus. both out of
the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening. You see the key words there in
that verse. It's all about the preaching
of the gospel, isn't it? It tells you how he preached
it. He did so expounding, testifying
and persuading It tells you what he preached, the kingdom of God
concerning Jesus. It tells you from where he preached
it, where he got his message from. From the law of Moses,
both out of the law of Moses, the first five books of the Bible,
that was called the law, and out of the prophets, from the
word of God, from the whole Bible, from the scriptures. And it tells
you how long, even, he preached to them. A whole verse is about
the preaching, isn't it? Paul, as we said Wednesday night,
he was convinced here that the time of his departure was at
hand. We have his writings to Timothy
from this very situation in Rome. He was imprisoned there with
some freedom by God's grace and providence. would have his gospel
preached to many and would have them hear it, and because he
would, the means were in place whereby they would be preached
to by Paul. Paul had freedom. He was in his
own hired house, and folks had the liberty to come and to hear
him preach by the providence of God. The other prisoners that
came over on that ship were in the jailhouse and didn't have
that kind of freedom, because they weren't God's preachers.
It's that simple. But he was convinced here. He
said to Timothy, the time of my departure is at hand. I'm
ready to be offered. And we know from Paul's writings
that he loved and desired the salvation of his countrymen,
the Jews. He called their leaders to himself
here in our text, the Jewish religious leaders of that day
in the city of Rome. And it said they appointed him
a day, just like we've appointed a day here. There's a specified
time and day of worship, of hearing the Word of God. And on this
day, it says, many came to him. And Paul spent the entire day,
from morning to evening, doing three things. He expounded. Very important word with regard
to the preaching of the gospel. This is that word that means
to set the table, to present the Word of God as it is. We didn't prepare it. We didn't
author it. We didn't write it. It's not
my word. I'm just setting it out for you. I'm just putting
it on the table. It means to present, to exhibit. We don't manipulate the Word
of God to make it say what we want it to say. You can get this
book to say anything you want it to say if you're willing to
twist it and pervert it. I've experienced that down through
the years. People can use it to support
whatever wild theory they've imagined in their minds. That's
not what we do. We don't come with preconceived
notions about God and religion and sin and those things and
get the Bible to support our preconceived notions. We say,
thus saith the Lord. Here's what God said. What are
you going to do with it? That's to expound. We're just
serving it up, putting it on the table. I can't make you hungry. I can't make you eat it. I might
want you to. I might wish that you would. But I can't make you hungry.
But if you are hungry, you'll eat. Here's the glorious feast. of God's Word, God's Gospel of
Christ, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did
for sinners. We've tasted, we who believe
on him, we've tasted that the Lord is good. Are you hungry? I would to God that you were.
If you are, here it is. Here it is. That's expounding.
And then it says he testified. That's what witnesses do. Here's
what I've seen and heard. John said, that which we've seen
and heard, we declare it unto you. Is that what? That's what
we're doing. And that's important. If I don't
know what I'm saying, I got no business saying it to you. And
then it says he persuaded them. We reason with sinners. Paul's
manner was to go in and reason with them on behalf of God. As
ambassadors of Christ, Paul said, we beseech you, be ye reconciled
to God. We persuade, the word means to
induce one by words, to believe. I induce you to believe. I beseech
you, I exhort you, hear what God said and cast aside all of
your vain thoughts, all of your ideas, all of your preconceived
notions about God and the way He does things. And listen to
what God said and believe it. I exhort you to do that. And
I have an interest in you doing that. I'm not indifferent about
it. That's what persuading has to
do with. I can't cause you to believe,
but what I say, I say that you might believe. You see the difference? Paul had a heart for a lost sinner. And I pray for that heart and
to some degree I have it by God's grace. He said my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I have some desires and wishes
for my children in this life. I want them to be happy and I
want them to have some what we call good things in this life. Nothing compares to this. Before God, my heart's desire
and my prayer to God is not not to them. I'm not looking for
them to decide. My prayer to God is that they
might be saved. You see that? I want my children
to be saved. If they're going to be saved,
God's going to have to save them. And so I'm asking him, Lord,
save them, save them. And that's what Paul said concerning
these Jews. That's why he called them together.
He didn't call them together to argue with them. He didn't
call them together to prove a point. He called them together because
it was his heart's desire. He persuaded them concerning
Jesus. You see that? These self-righteous Pharisees,
too. Now, these men, they already
knew everything they needed to know. They didn't come there
with open hearts. They said, tell us about this
sect. Tell us about these ones. All we know about them is they're
evil spoken of. Every time we hear about them,
they're evil spoken of. Are you in with them? What do
you got to say about that? Self-righteous, looking down upon everybody else. And Paul's message did absolute
violence to everything that they trusted in. Everything that they
held dear. All of their hope. And their
reaction wasn't pleasant. But Paul did not want to see
them go to hell. He said, I persuaded him. I persuaded
him. Well, what do we employ these
three methods? What message? Do we employ these three methods
in order to deliver? We exhort. We expound. This is God's Word. And nothing
added to it or taken away from it. And I testify to you. I know
it's true. I've seen Him. I've heard Him. I've heard His voice. I've tasted
that He's good. And that's why I'm telling you
about Him. And I do so with all the persuasion of truth and of love. God, give us a heart to persuade
sinners concerning Jesus Christ. I don't want to see my loved
ones go to hell. I really don't. But we employ these three methods
regarding a specific message. And the message here in the text
is described in two ways. The kingdom of God, and concerning Jesus. That's
a pretty good description of the gospel, isn't it? The kingdom
of God. What is the kingdom of God? This
is the exact message that the Lord Jesus himself preached.
Turn to Matthew 4. Whatever your message is, it
better be what Christ preached. The Lord Jesus Christ, it says
in Matthew 4, 23, it says, And Jesus went about all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues. There is a time and a place for
the worship of God. They appointed Paul a day to
preach the gospel to them. The Lord went to their synagogues,
where God was presumed, at least, to be worshiped, and he taught
them there. And we have a specific place
and time, a day, to worship the Lord, where his gospel is preached.
It says, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel, the
good news of the kingdom. You see that? Paul persuaded
them, exhorted them, expounded, testified concerning the kingdom. He said, here was Christ's message,
and this is my message. What was Christ's message? I
am that bread that came down from heaven. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. Rest is mine to give, and I'll
give it to you. That's what Paul, the kingdom
And healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people. That's what Paul did there on
the island of Malta. He healed their sicknesses and
their diseases. God thereby testifying, this
man's for me. I sent him. He doing what I did
and saying what I said. And then a kingdom has one sovereign. And there never has been a kingdom
yet that had two kings. There's one king. God's kingdom
has a throne in it, and God has set his king upon his throne. Turn to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. God has a king Psalm 2, why did the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together. You see, the kings of the earth
set themselves, and they take counsel together against the
Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bands
asunder. We won't have this man to reign
over us. and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth
in the heavens shall laugh." You see, the Lord shall have
them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and vex them in his sword as pleasure. Yet I
have set my king, the kings of the earth have set themselves
against God. And God said, I've set my king
upon my holy hill of Zion. Who is he, Lord? I will declare
the decree the Lord hath sent unto me, Thou art my son." You
see that? Who's the king? Who did God put
on the throne? You're my son, and this day have
I begotten you. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance. I'm glad he did, aren't you?
That was me right there, the heathen. And God gave me this
son. and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings, you that have set yourself up against God. Be wise, be instructed,
you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord. You think you're
a king? Bow down to the king. You see,
we're all kings by nature, aren't we? We've set ourselves up as
king against the king. Serve the Lord. Be a servant.
That was Paul's great ambition. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. That's when God breaks you and
shatters you, like it said there. That's what you'll do. You'll
serve the king from that point on. Serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice with trembling. kiss the son. Don't say, ah,
cast his cords away from me. Kiss his feet like that woman
that wiped his feet with the hair of her head and washed his
feet with her tears and kissed his feet. Kiss the son, lest
he be angry. And ye perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in him. Have you bowed to him? Are you
a servant or are you a king? Let's go back to our text. God's
kingdom has a king, just one. And the father put him there,
anointed him, said, You are my son. This day have I begotten
you, and I'm going to give you a people for your inheritance.
That's my king. Is he yours? And then God's kingdom,
Christ's kingdom, is not of this world. That's what he said to
Pilate. My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom was of this world, I'd tell my disciples to get
their swords out and we'd go to battle. But my kingdom's not
of this world. The battles of this kingdom aren't
won with swords. The battle that's being fought
has nothing to do with that. It's not an earthly kingdom.
Now, that does not mean that God does not rule on this earth. He absolutely does. But what
he's talking about is the kingdom of God, his spiritual kingdom. It's a spiritual, eternal kingdom. Christ rules in the heart. Is
he your king? Have you bowed to him? He rules
in the heart. His kingdom is not of this world. It's spiritual. Christ's kingdom
is not in meat and drink. What does that mean? Turn to
Romans 14 and let's look at it. Romans 14 and verse 17. For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink. It's not, it doesn't have to
do with outward things. Christ taught The people that
which go within to the body doesn't defile. There's not clean things
and unclean things. Those laws were put into place
by God to point men to Christ. It's not that pork, there's something
wrong with it, it's going to poison you or it's not good for
you. There's nothing unclean about
that. Those things were put into place
to point to the whole law as a schoolmaster to bring us to
Christ. It's not what goes into your body that defiles you. They
had that idea from the Levitical law. And he said, that's not
it. It's not in meat and drink. But what does God's kingdom have
to do with? Righteousness. You see it there?
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness
and peace. Do you know anything about the
righteousness of God? Do you know anything about having
peace with God? We who are enmity by nature against
God have in peace with God and joy in the Holy Ghost. There's three words that describe
his kingdom most beautifully. It's righteousness. It has to
do with righteousness. And try to understand now how
this sounded to these Jewish leaders that Paul was talking
to. They, from being little children, they were taught there's certain
things you eat, there's certain things you don't eat, and that's
how you please God, by obeying these things. Paul said, what
you do or do not do has nothing to do, it can't establish your
citizenship in this kingdom, nor does it establish your status
in God's kingdom. What you do or don't do has nothing
to do with it. It's not in meat or drink. That
set them back on their heels right there. The kingdom of God
has to do with righteousness, but not yours. Listen to Matthew
5 and verse 20. Christ said, I say unto you that
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and the Pharisees, or you shall in no case enter into the kingdom
of heaven. There wasn't anybody more meticulous.
The disciples were taken aback by that. They looked up to the
Pharisees as the holiest of the holy. How are we going to be
more righteous than that? Well, that question is answered
all through God's Word. And Paul's heart broke for these
Jewish leaders and those that they taught in error over this
very specific issue. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Let's
camp out just for a little while in Romans chapter 10. I want
you to see this. He preached the kingdom of God.
And all through, we see that that kingdom doesn't have to
do with meat and drink. It doesn't have to do with external
things, with earthly things, with temporal things. It doesn't
have to do with you doing things or not doing things. Eat this. Don't eat that. Drink this. Don't
drink that. It's not about that. Romans 10.1.
Brethren, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. They need to be saved. And here's
how I know that, Paul said, for I bear them record. They have
a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. These Pharisees,
these religious leaders now, they preached and taught the
Bible. They have a zeal of God. They
talk about Jehovah and his covenant. They talk about blood, sacrifice. They do the, they perform all
of the, the outward deeds of the law. Paul said concerning
the law in an outward sense, I was blameless, blameless. And that's who he's talking to
here. Folks like that, but they're ignorant of something. What does
the kingdom of God have to do with righteousness? They're ignorant
of God's righteousness, and they're going about to establish their
own righteousness. They have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. Who's the righteousness of God?
Look at the next word. For Christ. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Oh, they haven't bowed to Christ.
My heart goes out to them that they might be saved. They haven't
submitted to God's righteousness in Christ. Oh, that they might
bow and submit themselves to God's way of righteousness, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the end of the law for righteousness. The law can't produce righteousness.
It demands it, but it can't produce it. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Are you flesh? Then forget about
trying to please God. Forget about it. It's not going
to happen. Three things about this. First
of all, Christ is the end, that word, end of the law for righteousness
there. The word has to do with a goal,
with arriving at a goal. And it has to do with termination,
because a goal is the termination of what you're striving for,
right? If you get to the goal line, you've arrived. You're
at the end. Your pursuit has terminated in success. And so it has to do with a goal
and also the termination of the law for righteousness. God hasn't
done away with His law, but it's the end of it as far as it being
your righteousness before God. If you're keeping the law for
righteousness, that needs to be terminated. And you know how
that happens? Christ. When you see that Christ
is your only righteousness before God, your righteousness with
regard to the law is over from that minute on. Okay, Christ
is the goal of the law for righteousness before conversion. Why did God
give his law? Galatians 3, 24, wherefore the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. So before conversion,
God gives his law. Why and how? Paul said the commandment
came. I was alive without the law once. He wasn't without the law as
far as keeping it outwardly. He done said, I kept it perfectly
outwardly. But I didn't have any idea what
his law was saying. You that would be under the law,
don't you hear it? Paul said, I didn't. I was alive without
the law once. But then the commandment came
to my heart and sin revived and I died. I realized what God was
saying. I realized how holy a person
has to be to please God. And it killed me. It killed me. So why did God give his law?
It was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. to show us our
sinful condition, to show us the wretchedness of what we call
our righteousness, and drive us to Him who is God's righteousness,
to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith,
not by the law, but by grace through faith. You see that?
Faith in Christ. He's my righteousness. All right? Righteousness by the law is over
at that point. And before conversion, When God's
bringing us unto Christ, Christ was the goal of the law then.
All right? Secondly, Christ is the goal
or termination of the law for righteousness at conversion.
When you believe the law for righteousness is no longer a
consideration in your heart, He's the termination of that. You see that? Hebrews 14 says
it a lot better than I can say it in my work. He that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works. At conversion,
when you've entered into Christ's rest, you cease from your own
works. You see that? Christ was the
end of the law for righteousness when God saved you. Before He
saved you, He was driving you to Christ. When He saved you,
He shut you up to Christ. And then thirdly, Christ is the
goal of the law after conversion. Why do you say that, Chris? He
said he looked his disciples in the face and he said, if you
love me, keep my commandments. Why do we have regard to God's
law now that we're saved after conversion? Why did Paul say,
I love the law of God after the inward man? Because he loved
Christ. That's why. If you love me, do
what I say do. Is that right? Because we love
Him, our motivation for obedience
to God's law is not to establish our own righteousness, but our
motivation is love for Christ. Christ is the goal of the law
for righteousness after conversion. Why do you do what you do? to
score points with God or because you love the master? All right, now, the kingdom of
God, Christ is the king, but get this, understand this, Christ
himself is the kingdom of God. He's the kingdom of God. What
makes you say that, Chris? Well, I read it somewhere. It's in Matthew 12. In verse
27, listen to it, we're out of time, so let me read it to you.
In Matthew 12, 27, the Lord Jesus Christ looked at a group of folks
and he said to them, they had accused him of casting out devils
by the devil. And he said this to them, if
I, Babi Elzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast
them out? Therefore, they shall be your
judges. But, listen to this now, verse
28 of Matthew 12. Write it down if you want to
look at it later. Listen to this. He said, But
if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, if that's what's taking
place before your eyes right now, if I cast out devils by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. You see that? In other words,
Christ is saying, if I'm who I say I am, If I cast out devils
by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is staring you
in the face. Christ is the kingdom. Paul's
message is described in two ways here. The kingdom of God and
concerning Jesus. They're one and the same. Christ
is the kingdom of God. If you're preaching the kingdom
of God, you're preaching concerning Jesus. And if you're preaching
Christ, you're preaching the kingdom of God. Is that right?
All right. Now, where do we get our message
from? Both out of the law and out of the prophets, the entire
Word of God. We don't pick and choose. We
don't cut any parts out. A lot of people, if they were
honest, they'd just rip some pages out. If you're going to
ignore them and you're scared of them and they don't agree
with your philosophy, your doctrine, just tear them out. Just get
you one of those three-ring Bibles, and then you can just take them
out quietly, and shred them. But no, out of the whole Book
of God, the entire Word of God is concerning Jesus. And that's
what he preached. Moses and all the prophets had
one message. And what we're saying is what
God has always said to sinners. Always. As long as there's been
a sinner, this Gospel's gone forth. That God is holy. Man is sinful. And God receives
sinners by a blood sacrifice, by a substitute. And Paul said
to these men, these religious leaders, these Jews, this Jesus,
the carpenter's son, he's that substitute. He's that substitute. So what was the result then of
preaching Christ? And we'll be through. Verse 24,
And some believed the things which were spoken, And some believed
not. It's interesting the way that's
worded now. It doesn't say they didn't believe. It's put in positive terms. They
believed not. You see the difference? Not believing
is negative. It's not to do something. To
believe not is to positively refuse what God said. There's a difference. There's
a difference. Somebody that doesn't even hear
the gospel can not believe. But only somebody that hears
it can believe not. You see the difference there.
Now, this is not new to our study of the Scriptures. We've seen
this many times where some believed and some didn't. And it's bittersweet,
isn't it? There's rejoicing that anybody would believe. We know
it's the mercy of God that anybody would believe the gospel. But
Paul's heart's desire was that they might all be saved, and
they weren't. They weren't, and we know that they won't be. But
what Paul preached was the divisive truth, the offense of the cross.
He knew that there'd be a division before he preached it. It says
in John 7, 43, there was a division among the people because of him. If you preach him, there's going
to be division. It's because of Christ. And not
only was there division among them, but it says some of them
would have taken him. It's a violent rejection. They believe not.
They believe not. And they would have taken him
and killed him if they could. And I've seen murder in the eyes
of men before. It was in their hearts, and I
saw it in their eyes and in their voice. I was talking to a friend
of mine one time. about the gospel back when I
was in high school, and he was a little older than me. He had
his own place, and we spent some time together. We liked to play
dominoes and played guitars together. We had a lot in common. I still
talk to him when I go to Texas, but I remember talking to him
about the gospel a long time ago. And he said, I've got a
buddy of mine, a guy that I didn't know. It was a friend of his
that I didn't know. And he said, I want him to hear this. He's
real religious. He's real active in the church
that I grew up in. And he knows a lot about the
Bible. I want you to tell him what you're
telling me. And let's see what he says about
it. I said, well, he'll listen. I'll try to tell him something.
Well, he came over to my friend's house. And I talked to him for
about five minutes. It took about five minutes telling
him about God's prerogative to save whom he will, that he has
a chosen people in Christ, that he chose from the foundation
of the world, and that he's revealed himself as the sovereign God
that saves whom he pleases. And after about five minutes,
he got red in the face and said, I don't want anything to do with
a God like that. And he left. And I never saw him or heard
from him again, and my friend never mentioned him again after
that. Some believed, and some believed not. Somebody told Roth
Barnard, he preached this same gospel 50, 60, 70 years ago,
I guess. And somebody told him one time,
what you preach makes God a monster. And he said, This gospel makes
God a monster. You better get ready to do business
with a monster. Have you bowed to Christ or are
you still on the throne? The kings of this earth have
set themselves against the Lord and his king. But I came here
to preach the kingdom to you this morning like Paul did so
long ago. And the king who reigns in that kingdom, and he reigns
in righteousness. And the kingdom is concerning
righteousness, but not yours. The only thing you need to know
about your righteousness is that you don't have any. And you need
to bow to God's righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ. His sin-atoning
blood and His spotless righteousness as the substitute of sinners,
as the representative of His people, is your only hope. Christ
is your only hope. Some believe... He may be a monster
to you this morning, but your only hope is for Him to have
mercy on you. Do you understand that? And He
delights to show mercy. Everybody that comes to this
God for mercy will have it. They'll have it. He delights. Some believe not. Some refuse
to believe that God can only save sinners one way. and that
he has been pleased to save sinners by the righteousness and sacrifice
of his son." These men, all of them, they weren't just good
church members. They were authorities on the Scripture. Well-respected
teachers, knowledgeable in the Word of God. They weren't some
kind of weird, bizarre cult, you know, Branch Davidians or
some foolishness like that. They talked about Jehovah God.
They preached from the Bible. They said to the Lord Jesus,
God is our father. He said, the devil is your father.
Because they had not submitted themselves unto Christ, who is
the righteousness of God. Have you? Have you? Some believe
and some not just didn't believe. Believe not. Will you fly in
the face of God? There's none other name. Under
heaven given among men. Whereby we must be saved. You
don't have to come to his feet for mercy. Can you do that? Let's bow in prayer. Lord, thank you for sovereign
mercy. Thank you for your son. We read about your kingdom, Lord,
and we see that throne that John saw and the one sitting on it. And we see a throne of judgment
and righteousness, but by your grace, we also see a throne of
mercy where sinners can approach. And
pleading the merits and sacrifice of the Son of God, can approach
boldly and confidently. And Lord, cause us to come, and
cause us to come that way, pleading His merits in blood, and to find justification there
in Him. Lord, while we're here, help
us to preach Him. And not just to preach about
Him, Give me the message that you
gave Paul and so many before him and so many after him. And
let me not stray one whit from that message. In the gospel of your grace in
Christ, whereby you're pleased to save sinners. And Lord, my heart's desire is
that sinners would be saved, that those whom I know and love would by your almighty power
and grace submit themselves unto your righteousness. Bow to the
Lord Jesus Christ and beg him for mercy, and find mercy in
him. We desire it and we pray for
it. We pray your blessings upon us,
Lord. Without the Lord Jesus, we can do nothing. We are nothing,
we have nothing, and can do nothing. without the Lord Jesus. Bless
us together in Him, in His precious name. Amen. Well, stay if you can. Let's
enjoy a meal together and enjoy this beautiful day. Let's think
about Him all day, shall we? I wish I could. We're so vain,
aren't we? So foolish. Well, it's my blessing to worship
with you. That's always the case. I just
felt like saying it this morning. I do love you. And I don't just preach because
it's what I'm supposed to do. John said he wrote what he wrote
that centers my belief. And we do desire that. and pray
to God for it. Well, you're dismissed. Thank
you.