I want to thank everyone who
works hard in Vacation Bible School. The Lord blessed that,
and I appreciate everybody's effort, and I thought the Lord
blessed us with a week of His grace. Here's another announcement.
The church building has been coming in need of several updates,
the original building is 30 years old and the addition is 20 years
old and their appliances have issues, the kitchen and fellowship
hall floor needs replaced, landscaping, window issues, so as the Lord
enables you, give for this as you're blessed. I've entitled this message Boldness
without hindrance. Where do you get that title?
Well, it says that Paul preached the kingdom of God, teaching
those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. That word is boldness. And no
man forbidding him, that simply means without hindrances. Boldness without hindrance. Now verse 30, Paul dwelt two
whole years in his own hired house. Now evidently he was in
house arrest at this time. Look at verse 16 of this same
chapter. And when we came to Rome, the
centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard,
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that
kept him. So for two years, he was in this
house under house arrest with a soldier who kept him. One wonders if the Lord taught
that soldier the gospel during that period. I wouldn't be at
all surprised if he did. And we read in verse 30 that
he received all that came unto him. He received and welcomed
all who came to him. I hope we do the same thing. We want everybody to believe,
don't we? and everybody ought to believe
the gospel. It's true. You and I ought to
believe. May God give us grace to believe. We ought to believe. This is
the very truth of God. And Paul received everyone. who came to him, and here is
the summary of his preaching during that two-year period.
What happened after that, we really don't know. Some think
he may have been beheaded right after that. Some think three
or four years later under the reign of Nero, but he did die
as a martyr for the cause of God and truth. But during this
two-year period, we're given a summary of his preaching. He
received everybody that came to him, and I like that, don't
you? I wanna be that person that receives everybody who hears
the gospel. Preaching the kingdom of God
and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ
And here's how this message was preached, with all confidence,
no man forbidding him. Now the word confidence is usually
translated boldness. When you read the word boldness,
it's the same word, plainness of speech, openness, not speaking in a way
of trying to package the gospel and make it more appealing to
the flesh with boldness. Now let me show you what that
means. Turn to Acts chapter four. I'd like you to read this with
me. Verse seven, Acts chapter four, verse seven. And when they had set them in
the midst, Peter and John, before the Sanhedrin, before the high
priest, they asked, by what power or by what name have you done
this? This is talking about this healing,
this miraculous healing of a man who was born lame in both of
his feet. How did you do this? Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Ghost, saith unto them, you rulers of the
people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of
the good deed done to this impotent man, by what means he is made
whole, be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel that
by the name of Jehovah, by the name of God, This man is set before you whole. Now, if he would have said that,
it would have been true, but it would have been a compromise
of the gospel. It would have been true, but
it would have been compromising. Now, how did he answer this question?
When they said, by what power, by what authority have you done
this? Here's his answer. "'Be it known
unto you,' verse 10, "'and to all the people of Israel, "'that
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, "'whom you crucified,
whom God hath raised from the dead, "'even by him doth this
man stand here before you whole, "'this is the stone which was
set at nought of you builders, "'which has become the head of
the corner, "'neither is there salvation in any other. for there's
none other name, Jesus of Nazareth. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Now, when they
saw the boldness, that's boldness, isn't it? When they saw the boldness
of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, they took knowledge of them, that they had been with
Jesus. Now that is what boldness is. That is what confidence is. That is the way the gospel is
to be preached with all boldness. And what he says next is no man
forbidding him, and that simply means without hindrance, without
worrying about what men think, without worrying about consequences,
without worrying about the outcome, without worrying about results,
without worrying about the fear of man, without worrying about
what it may cost, without worrying about self-interest, with all
boldness and without being hindered by what men think. Let me show you what that looks
like. Turn with me for a moment to Matthew 22. Matthew 22. Now, these are the
words of the Pharisees, and they had a bad motive in saying this,
but look what they said in verse 15. This is the Pharisees speaking
to Christ. Then went the Pharisees and took
counsel how they might entangle him in this talk. That's what
they wanted to do. And they sent out unto him their disciples
with a Herodian, saying, Master, we know that thou art true and
teach us the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man,
for thou regardest not the person of men. Now that's what it is
to be without hindrance. When you preach the gospel, you
don't care whether anybody, I'm not talking about indifference,
but if nobody in here likes it, okay, it's still the truth. That's
the only way to preach the gospel in boldness, not trying to package
it, not trying to present it in such a way as to keep from
offending men, and with no hindrance, without being hindered by the
fear of man, the fear of what they would think. Now, the only
way I want to hear a man preach a gospel is if he preaches just
like that. If he doesn't, I'm not going
to hear the truth. And that's what I want to hear. I want to
hear the truth of God. Now that is the way Paul preached
the gospel. With boldness and without hindrance. And pray for me that I will be
enabled to preach the gospel that way because I won't without
his grace. With boldness and without hindrance. Now let's look at the content
of his preaching. We see his manner of preaching
with boldness and without hindrance. No man forbidding him. No man
stopping him from preaching the gospel as it should be preached. But the content of his gospel
every day for two years can be summarized by this. Preaching the kingdom of God. And teaching those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these things can't be separated.
Preaching the kingdom of God. And if I preach the kingdom of
God, I will teach those things which concern the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if I'm dealing with that
which does concern the Lord Jesus Christ, I will be preaching the
kingdom of God. Several of the versions that
I've read, I always look at the different versions, translations
of the English. I love these translations preaching
the reign of God. That's what it is to preach the
kingdom of God. It's to preach the reign of God. That is what that means. The
royal power, the kingship, The dominion, the rule of God, the
kingdom of God, the reign of God. And there is so much, so
many references to the kingdom of God in the New Testament.
There are hundreds. That word is used so often. But
I have decided, I hope this is of the Lord, I believe it is.
I've decided to show what the Old Testament says about his
kingdom because what the Old Testament says is what the New
Testament says as well. You can't separate those things.
So I wanna look together at what the Old Testament says about
the kingdom of God. Now this was Paul's preaching.
For two years, he preached the kingdom of God and those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's first consider
the kingdom of God, and I want you to turn to Daniel chapter
four. Daniel is right after the book
of Ezekiel. Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel,
then Daniel. Daniel chapter four, verse 34. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. and mine understanding
returned to me. It had left him. At the end of what days? Well,
let's look at the first of this chapter, verse one. Nebuchadnezzar, the king, unto
all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth,
Peace be multiplied unto you. Now first, think about this.
The Lord used this man to write scripture. This is a man God
saved. He was the king, at that time,
the most powerful man on earth, and God saved this man. He was
actually used by God to write scripture. He's writing scripture
at this time. Nebuchadnezzar, the king unto
all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth,
peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show you,
that's me and you right now. I thought it good to show you
the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward
me. How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. His
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. It's an eternal kingdom. And
His dominion, His royal rule, His sovereign power is from generation
to generation. He is always in control. Now,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and flourishing in
my palace. Everything was going well. I
saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed
and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I decree to
bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they
might know, make known unto me the interpretation of that dream." Well, Daniel is the only one
who could give him the interpretation. And here's what the interpretation
of that dream was, verse 16. He's given the dream, and here's
the interpretation of the dream. Let his heart, Nebuchadnezzar,
this is what this dream you had means, let his heart be changed
for man's and let a beast's heart be given unto him. You know, that's an actual psychological
disorder. You can think you're an ox. You
can think you're a cow. That's an actual psychological
disorder that God gave him and he was going to have it for seven
years. Let his heart be changed from
a man's and let a beast's heart be given unto him and let seven
years pass over him. This matters by the decree of
the watchers and demand by the word of the holy ones of the
intent. Here's what you're gonna learn, Nebuchadnezzar, that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. This dream I, Nebuchadnezzar,
have seen Now thou four old belches are, declare the interpretation
thereof, for as much as all the wise men of my kingdom are not
able to make known unto me the interpretation, but thou art
able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in me. Now he gave him
this interpretation of what's gonna take place. You're gonna
be turned into a beast for seven years. Now, here's what happened. Verse 28. And all this came upon the King
Nebuchadnezzar, this man who was the most powerful man on
the earth. At the end of the 12 months, he walked into the
palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, is not
this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from
heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, To thee it's spoken, the kingdom
is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and
thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall
make thee to eat grass as an oxen, and seven years shall pass
over you until you know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the
thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and
he ate grass as an oxen. His body was wet with the dew
of heaven, till his hairs were grown out like evil's feathers,
and his nails like bird claws." Seven years in this condition. At the end of the days, after that seven-year period,
The end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven,
and mine understanding returned to me. It left him, but now the
Lord brings it back. Mine understanding returned unto
me, and I blessed the Most High. Now, that doesn't mean that he
conferred a blessing on him. Only God blesses. He says, I praised and honored
him. I now see clearly who he is and
who I am. I bless the most high, that's
who he is, he's the most high. I praised and honored him that
liveth forever. He is eternal, whose dominion, whose royal power, whose sovereign
rule, eternal sovereignty, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. And this is speaking of God being
God, his dominion. His absolute control is an everlasting
dominion. Do you know he's always been
in control? He's always controlled everybody
and everything, and he is controlling everybody and everything right
now, and he always will. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. He's subject to none, He's influenced
by none, doing as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as
He pleases. That is who God is. He is God on His throne, working
all things after the counsel of His own will. God's dominion is God being God,
in fact, rather than just name only. His dominion. Oh, I love the kingdom of God. God reigns. God rules. God's will is always done. If it happened, it's because
God willed it. Whatever it is, God's will is
always done. His will was done in creation,
wasn't it? It was just Him willing it. Whatever happens in providence
is His will being done. Now, I don't understand why he
does everything he does. It's all good. Somebody says,
well, how can a good God let this happen? Don't sit in judgment
on God. God knows what he's doing and
you know nothing. And I know nothing as well. God reigns,
God rules. He's the first cause behind everything. He's in control of everybody.
And God's will is done in salvation. If you're saved, it's because
he willed your salvation. Not because you willed it, it's
because He willed it. God rules, God reigns, God's
God. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. Verse, this is His kingdom, whose
dominion is everlasting dominion and His kingdom is from generation
to generation. Look at verse 35. And all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. Nothing. Now, does that mean
God doesn't care anything about man? What doesn't mean that? You know that. Because God so
loved the world that he gave. His only begotten Son. So don't
look at that as God being uncaring about men in general. I don't
care what happens to them. No, they're His creatures and
He's gonna save whom He will. But when it speaks of them being
reputed as nothing, it means there's nothing you can do, there's
nothing I can do to hinder God's will being done. Nothing. Nothing. He doeth according to
His will. and there's nothing you or I
can do to hinder it. As far as that goes, this thing
of being a nothing, how much did you have to do with
God electing you? Nothing. How much did you have to do with
Christ paying for your sins? Nothing. They're my sins, but
I didn't help him. Hebrews 1.3 says he by himself
purged our sins. How much did you have to do with
you being justified before God? Nothing. How much did you have
to do with you being born again, born from above? Nothing. Salvation
is of the Lord. He doeth according to his will. Look at it, verse 35. All the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven, how completely
is God's will done in heaven? Completely, isn't it? Same thing
here. Same thing here. He doeth according
to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And none can stay His hand. Nobody can stop Him. Or saying to Him, What doest
Thou? Give an account of your matters. You give a ring, explain
yourself. He doesn't have to, he's God.
He's altogether glorious, he's holy, he's perfect, he's just,
whatever he does is right. I think of Paul's knowing people
would object in Romans chapter nine, where he says, for he sayeth
to Pharaoh, I have mercy on him, I will have mercy. And whom he
will, he hardens. Well, that would say to me, why
does he yet find fault? Who's resisted his will? If God
is absolutely sovereign and no one can resist His will, how
can He hold me responsible for the sin that I commit if it's
all according to His will? Nay, but who are you, O man,
to reply against God? You don't have any leg to stand
on. You have no business trying to
judge God. You're incapable. Your opinion
doesn't count is what he's saying, but that's the truth. That's the truth. Who are you,
old man, to reply against God? You know, when you reply against
God, when I reply against God, all of a sudden we become God's
judges. That's a bad place to be. There's one judge, God. You don't sit in judgment of
him. Verse 36, at the same time Nebuchadnezzar
says, my reason returned into me. And for the glory of my kingdom,
mine honor and brightness returned into me and my counselors and
my Lord sought unto me and I was established in my kingdom and
excellent majesty was added to me. Now, at one time, he was
the most powerful man in the earth and God turned him into
a beast. And he stayed out in the fields
and ate and whatever leaves, and his hair grew. He looked
like feathers. He'd gone so long without a bath.
His nails looked like eagle claws. He'd never, he was a beast. And
then God returned to him, and his understanding returned, and
he found out who God is. His kingdom is from generation
to generation, and he rules over all. Verse 37, now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise, extol, and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth and his ways judgment, absolute justice. And those that
walk in pride, he is able to abase. Oh, he's able to abase. Now that is God's kingdom. That is the message Paul preached,
the kingdom of God, and that is what is meant by the kingdom
of God. Just what I said, and Paul preached
this with all boldness. He didn't apologize to this,
this is who God is. And he did it without hindrances.
I'm not, Paul's saying, I'm not concerned whether you agree with
this or not. This is the truth with regard to the character
of God. He is king. But look what he says next, back
in our text, in Acts chapter 28. This is what he preached
for two years, preaching the kingdom of God. Now, the kingdom
just described in Daniel chapter four is what the kingdom of God
always is in the New Testament. You know, New Testament is only
what the Old Testament says. It's only what the Old Testament
already says. This is God. This is his kingdom. Now look what he says in verse
31. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if I preach the kingdom
of God, I will preach those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I don't preach those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, I have never preached
the kingdom of God. So what are those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ? Now look up at verse 23 of this
same chapter. And when they appointed him a
day, there came many to him and 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. That's what he preached on the
first day. And that's what he preached for the next two years
and every other time he preached. Now, I love the placing of this
verse of scripture. It's the last verse in the book
of Acts. Now, what comes next? Romans chapter one. So right
here on this page, we can find out exactly what is meant by
preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's read these first four
verses of Romans. Paul, a servant, a bond slave of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of
God, Not to the gospel of men, but the gospel of God, which
he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
Now, this is the gospel of the Old Testament Scriptures. It's
the New Testament, but it's the gospel of God according to the
Old Testament Scriptures. Now, you'll notice verse two
is in parentheses. It's a parenthetical statement,
and what that means, we can lift that out and read verses one
and three together with no confusing of the thought of what's being
said. Now we know that this is the gospel of God that is in
the scriptures, but look, let's read verses one and three together.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now remember, he preached those
things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here it is.
Here is what concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the
dead. Now there are the things that
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, He was made of
the seed of David according to the flesh. Now, God was manifest
in the flesh through the line of David, but Jesus Christ, the
eternal Son of God, was made flesh. He came in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. John says in first John four,
as a matter of fact, turn there. I want you to see this. This
is so important. Hold your finger in Romans one. Beloved believe, not every spirit
first John chapter four. Believe not every spirit, believe
not every preacher that comes along telling you he's preaching
the truth, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because
many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, this
is that spirit of antichrist. Where have you heard that it
should come and even now already it's in the world. Now here is
a summary of everything we believe. Christ was before he came as
the eternal son of God. He came in the flesh. The word
was made flesh. And whatever he came to do, he
did. Now that's everything we believe.
Christ is the eternal son of God. He came in the flesh. The word was made flesh and he
did what he came to do. What did he come to do? Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He did it. He did it. When the kingdom of God is preached,
those things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ are taught.
He's Lord. He's Lord of all. He's everybody's
Lord. He's saved people's Lord. He's
lost people's Lord too. They're his sheep, but they're
his goats too. He's Lord. He's Lord of all. He's Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. He's the Savior.
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, the
world already was condemned, but that the world through Him
might be saved. Jesus. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's Christ. He's God's
prophet. He's the Word of God. He's God's
priest. If he represents you, you must be saved. He's God's
king. That means he controls and rules
and reigns everything. You see, he's able to make sure
his will comes to pass because he's king of kings. He's absolute
Lord. We're to teach those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. is the good news. He's the content
of the gospel. He is THE CONTENT of the gospel. He's the content of scripture.
Now, back to Romans 1. The gospel of God concerning
His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh, but he wasn't made the son of
God. He was declared to be the son of God with power. You see,
he's the child that was born, but the son was given eternal. That's who he is. He was declared
to be the son of God, the uncreated eternal son of God with power. with power. You can't be the
son of God without omnipotence, can you? He's equal with the
Father. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And the only way you can be equal
with God is if you are God. No other way that can be. He's
declared to be the Son of God with power. That's not an empty
title. That's talking about His omnipotence.
The Son of God with power. And here's what demonstrates
His power. He's declared to be the Son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness. He's the only holy man to ever
live. He's filled with the spirit of
holiness, the holy spirit. What is it that demonstrates
that he is the son of God with power, his perfectly holy life? He never sinned. When he came in the flesh, he
came in the flesh to keep God's law perfectly. And he did so
as he was filled with the Spirit of God. John said God didn't
give him the Spirit by measure. He had the fullness of the Spirit
and he lived a perfectly holy life. Now that's the things concerning
the Son of God, the Spirit of holiness. The only holy man to
ever live. I love to think of the fact that
the only holy man to ever live and nobody got it. Nobody understood. His brethren didn't. Neither
did his brethren believe him. You know what that lets me know?
The natural man doesn't have a clue as to what holiness is
in the first place. The only holy man to ever live,
nobody got it. Nobody understood. Well, they
hated him. Somebody says, I want people
to see Christ in me. Well, if they do, they'll kill
you. They will! They saw what happened
to the Lord Jesus Christ when they saw who He was. It put Him
to death. But look what it says next, "...declared
to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead." Here's what proves He
is God's Christ! His resurrection! He died. Why did he die? The sins of his
people became his. He became guilty of the commission
of those sins. God is just, the only reason
for death is sin. My sin. My sin. My evil. My ungodliness, my unholiness,
my perversity became his. He bore my sins in his own body
on the tree. And what happened? God killed
him. The justice of God. But unlike
any other death, the moment he died, God was completely satisfied. His justice was satisfied. Not only was He satisfied with
His Son, He is eternally satisfied with everybody His Son died for. And that's the things concerning
Jesus Christ. He's the eternal God, made of
the seed of David. According to the spirit of holiness,
He lived a perfectly holy life. And he was resurrected from the
dead. He died, he really did die. And we know why he died,
because of sin. And he was raised from the dead.
Now those are the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now this is Paul's preaching. The kingdom of God. And those
things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way
this is to be preached is with all boldness. without hindrances,
without worrying about whether or not men are going to believe.
You see, in this thing of preaching, I can't make you believe. I can't
make myself believe. My only responsibility is to
preach the gospel and trust God to take care of the results.
I'm not trying to get you to believe, I'm trying to preach
the gospel. And I know that everybody that God has elected, Christ
has died for, and God the Holy Spirit calls, will believe. I
can't make somebody believe, but he does. He does. Now, I wanna say this with all
boldness, and without any hindrances. What must I do to be saved? Good question, isn't it? Most
important question you could ever consider. What must I do?
There's something I must do to be saved. Now, he didn't say,
what can I do to save myself? That's out of the question. You
already know that, don't you? There's nothing you can do to
save yourself. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in the high name
of him who is king of thy kingdom, that you would enable everybody
in this room to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Save us, O Lord, for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.