Okay, today we're going to take
a look at Acts chapter 24 and basically look at the first 14
verses. I'm taking the title from what
is said in verse 14. This I confess unto thee." This
is his confession before the Roman governor. His name is Felix. Here's my confession before you.
After the way which my accusers, the Jews, the way which they
call heresy, the way which they call falsehood and lies, that
is the way I worship the God of my fathers. The living God,
the true God. I worship Him, believing Him. I worship God, believing Him. Now, you cannot worship God without
believing Him. That's impossible. He seeketh
such to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We believe Him
and we worship Him. The only place a sinner will
worship is at the throne of the Almighty God. I worship the God
of my fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the true and living
God, the sovereign God, the God of my fathers, believing the
Word of God, the written Word of God, all things, excluding
none, believing everything God has said in His Word, believing
all things. And I have hope, verse 15, I
have hope toward God. We have a good hope toward God
because the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our hope. The Lord himself
is our hope. So I'm taking the title for the
message here from verse 14, the way they call heresy, the way
they call heresy, or I thought about an alternate title, The
believer's confession. This is my confession, he said.
This I confess unto thee. I'm guilty of this. Worshipping
God and believing God. Boy, I want to be found guilty
of that, don't you? I want that to be my confession,
don't you? Believing God, worshipping God,
receiving the word of truth. Remember, Paul had been arrested
and jailed, beaten, arrested and jailed. And when the chief
captain found out about the plot to kill the Apostle Paul, he
immediately escorted him to Jerusalem by this army that was assembled
of 470 men. They ushered him out of town
at night and they traveled all night and brought him to Caesarea
the next day before this governor, his name is Felix. After five
days, the high priest with the others, the elders, the Pharisees,
Sadducees, and scribes with them went also to Caesarea, as it
says in verse 1, after five days, and Ananias the high priest descended
with the elders, with a certain orator named Tertullus, and informed
the governor against Paul, against God's servant. They bring with
them to accuse Paul of these crimes against the state and
against the religious Jews, they bring a slick-talking Roman lawyer,
his name is Tertullus, who they hired for this special occasion.
They wanted to really make sure they put a nail in the coffin
for this man and his ministry, so they hired the best they could
find, Tertullus. Now, here's what happened. We
see the false accusations they bring against Paul. Verse 2.
When he had called forth Tertullus, he began to accuse him, saying,
and the first thing he does is butter up the judge with kind
words and speaks fiery words to this governor, but war was
in his heart and vengeance was in his mind. Tertullus began
to accuse him, saying, Well, first of all, seeing that we
enjoy great quietness, and you're worthy of deeds done to this
nation by your good provisions, and we accept it always. We just
love what you give us. And in all places, most noble
Felix, and we do so with, oh, we're so thankful you're governor.
We're just so happy you're the governor. You provide all things
for us. No, notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious
unto thee. I pray that thou wouldest hear
us of thy gentleness, clemency." A few words. We just have a few
words to say about this man, and then he brings these charges,
verse 5 and 6. Three things, basically. This
man we have found to be a pest. We found this man to be a pest.
In other words, he's a bug. He's an insect. He needs extermination. We want to exterminate him. He's
a plague unto us. This Paul, he's nothing but a
troublemaker. Every city where he goes, there's
a riot and a revolution. Oh, there's a revival, too, but
they left that part out. We have found this man to be
a pestilent fellow. Secondly, they said he's a mover. He moves people. He motivates
people to insurrection and sedition against the governor and against
the Roman Empire and against the Jews, among all the Jews. This man is a bad man. Furthermore,
he's a ringleader, too. He's a ringer. He's a ringleader
of this sect or this cult, these Nazarenes. Someone said, can
anything good come out of Nazareth? He's a Nazarene. He's the ringleader
of this cult from up there in Nazareth and Galilee. He's a
no count. He's a bug. He's a pest. Away
with the man! That's what he's saying. He does not deserve to live. The Lord Jesus Christ was called
the Nazarene because he grew up in Nazareth. He came and dwelt
in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which is
spoken by the prophet, he shall be called a Nazarene. As Philip
said to Nathanael, or Nathanael said to Philip, can anything
good come out of Nazareth? Do you remember what he said?
Come and see, come and see, I'll show you. And then the third
thing he says, verse 6, he went about to profane or desecrate,
desecrate, he would profane the temple, our holy temple. Oh, our holy temple. This man
entered into the holy temple and defiled it by his pestilence
presence whom we took. We expelled him and we would
have judged him according to our law. What were they going
to do? You remember what they did when
they took him and drew him out of the temple? They went about
to kill him and beat him to death with sticks and stones. Were
you going to judge him according to the law? And by our law this
man ought to die. That's what they're saying. He
went about to profane and desecrate and defile our holy temple. You
remember when we studied in Acts chapter 21, remember Paul was
in the temple that day observing that Jewish ritual. Wasn't he? Remember he took that vow with
those men and went to perform that Jewish ritual? He didn't
go there to defile the temple. He went there to observe the
ceremonies of the law. What he did was wrong, but nevertheless
he didn't go there to defile the temple, did he? That's what
they accused him of. So Tullus concludes by saying,
We were going to kill this man and execute this man, as it says
there in verse 7, but the chief captain Lysia, Acts 24 verse
7, came upon us with great violence and took him away out of our
hands. And the Jews agreed, down in
verse 9, the Jews assented. All the Jews, Ananias, the high
priest, and all those with him agreed with Tertullus. This man
was a pest. This man was a mover of sedition.
This man was a no count, a nobody. He's just a ringleader. He's
a troublemaker. And they said, Amen. You see
what he's saying there, verse 9. And the Jews assented, saying,
these things were so. Well, what Tortullus? Well, we
could add a lot to what Tortullus said. This man, he's a no count
troublemaker, no good, rotten scoundrel. Let's just dump him
out. Whoa. Well, what's going to happen? Verse 10, then Paul, after the
governor had beckoned unto him, answered, Forasmuch as I know
that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, he
was a governor appointed by Rome, I do more cheerfully answer for
myself. You reckon what kind of attitude
Paul... Paul had heard these men, what
they said against him. He's facing his accusers. And
he, I can just imagine, with a smile on his face, said, I'm
not sure for the answer what they've accused me of. Verse
11, because that thou mayest understand that there but just,
there just 12 days since I came to Jerusalem to worship, not
to promote heresy and promote sedition and insurrection. And
they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man,
NO RAISING UP THE PEOPLE IN INSURRECTION AND SEDITION AND REBELLION AGAINST
ROME. NOT IN THE TEMPLE, NOT IN THE
SYNAGOGUES. NEITHER, VERSE 13, CAN THEY PROVE
ANYTHING AGAINST ME THAT THEY HAVE CHARGED ME WITH. THEY'RE
SAYING GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. AND PAUL SAYS, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA,
WAIT A MINUTE. I'M NOT GUILTY. THE THINGS THEY ACCUSE ME OF,
I HAVE NOT DONE. Neither can they prove the things
whereof they now accuse me." But verse 14, here's where we
want to camp. Verse 14. Here's what I do confess. I'm
guilty of this. The way which they call heresy,
falsehood, error, evil, is the way I worship the God of my father,
Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon. That is salvation by the grace
of God through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, believing
all things that are written in the word of God. Now hold your
place there. You remember back in chapter
10, verse 43, Acts chapter 10, verse 43, what Peter declares
here in Acts 10, 43, TO HIM GIVE ALL THE PROPHETS
WITNESS. Verse 42 says, HE COMMANDED US
TO PREACH UNTO THE PEOPLE AND TO TESTIFY THAT IT WAS HE WHICH
WAS ORDAINED OF GOD TO BE THE JUDGE OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
TO HIM GIVE ALL THE PROPHETS WITNESS THAT THROUGH HIS NAME
WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHALL RECEIVE THE REMISSION OF SIN. So when he says here, believing
all things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets,
what do all the Law and the Prophets write about? They all write about
the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is and what he's done. For example,
Abraham, our Lord said of Abraham, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Abraham believed God and he rejoiced
to see my day. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. Abraham saw the day of the Lord
Jesus Christ in that sacrifice Through his son Isaac pointing
to the Lord Jesus Christ. How about Moses? Our Lord said
to those Jews had you believed Moses you would have believed
me because Moses wrote about Me Abraham rejoiced in the Lord
Jesus Christ Moses wrote about him his hope of salvation was
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see what he's saying here
I'm guilty of this worshiping God The God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, the true and living God. How about David? David believed
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and worshiped and rejoiced
in salvation of the Lord. He said, the Lord said unto my
Lord, sit at my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool.
David said, the Lord is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
David said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. How about Isaiah,
the prophet of God? What did he write about? He was
wounded for our transgression and bruised for our iniquity.
When Philip preached the gospel to the eunuch who was reading
Isaiah 53, you remember what he preached unto him? Jesus,
the Lord Jesus Christ. How about Jeremiah? You go all
through the prophets. Jeremiah wrote about the Lord,
our righteousness, that righteous branch that the Lord would raise
up. Even going back further, they
say Job is the oldest book, the oldest writing, the first writing
in the Old Testament, the oldest, older than Genesis, is the book
of Job. And Job said what? I know my Redeemer lives. The
Lord has found a ransom, and he'll deliver me from going down
to the pit because of the ransom the Lord Jesus Christ paid for
us. And then he says, I've got a
good hope. I HAVE HOPE TOWARD GOD. IT'S A GOOD HOPE. I WORSHIP THE TRUE AND LIVING
GOD. I RECEIVE EVERYTHING WRITTEN IN THE WORD OF GOD CONCERNING
THE GOOD HOPE THAT BELIEVERS HAVE IN GOD, BECAUSE HE'S A GOD
OF ALL GRACE. HE'S A GOD OF HOPE AND PEACE. WE HAVE A GOOD HOPE THROUGH THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS OUR HOPE, A GOOD HOPE. of eternal
life, life beyond the grave, who has delivered the Lord Jesus
for our offenses and raised again for our justification, which
they themselves also allow, there shall be a resurrection of the
dead, both of the just, those who are justified in Christ,
and those not one with Him. Now, I want to take these words
and apply them to our day in which we live. Many in mainstream
religious circles, Christian religious circles, consider the
gospel of the sovereign mercy THE GOSPEL OF SOVEREIGN GRACE,
THE GOSPEL OF ELECTING LOVE, THE GOSPEL OF GOD'S PARTICULAR
REDEEMING BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. MANY IN MAINSTREAM RELIGION
WOULD SAY WHAT I PREACH AND WHAT WE BELIEVE HERE, THEY WOULD SAY
IT'S HERESY. IT IS HERESY. What they call heresy is the
way we worship God. That's our confession. God is
God, sovereign absolute, and we worship Him receiving His
Word as it testifies of a true living God. If you would take
those five basic principles, gospel principles, we have given
the name TULIP. This religious world would call
what we preach and believe heresy. THOSE FIVE TENETS OR FIVE GOSPEL
FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES OF THE WORD OF GOD, TOTAL DEPRAVITY,
AND ADAM ALL DIED, UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION, GOD CHOOSING A PEOPLE
UNTO SALVATION FROM ALL ETERNITY, LIMITED ATONEMENT, THAT IS FOR
WHOM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DIED, FOR WHOM DID HE DIE? WELL THIS
WHOLE WORLD SAYS HE DIED FOR ALL THE SINS OF ALL MEN, DON'T
THEY? That's not so. He died for his
sheep. He died for his people. He died
for the transgression of his covenant children. So the way
that we worship and preach, preaching total depravity, preaching unconditional
elective, preaching limited atonement, preaching effectual call, God
effectually, irresistibly calls out his people. God's not trying
to save anybody. He says, I will be their God
and they shall be my people. Covenant language. God doesn't
try to do anything. He's the Almighty God. Oh, we
can't violate the creature's will, they say. You better hope
somebody does or you're going to hell. God must invade our
heart, our mind, our will and change us or we're going to perish. The way we preach effectual,
irresistible grace, this religious world calls heresy. Don't they? God's going to preserve His people. They will persevere in faith.
None for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died and called. Think
about it. He elected a people. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
them. He calls them out of darkness and death and gives them life.
Now maybe they won't be saved. What nonsense? Maybe you can
get saved and then lose it. You see, salvation depends upon
Him, not you. Not you. It's His doing, not
ours. So the way that this religious
world called heresy, what I preach, what I believe, what we believe
here, what this ministry stands for, grace and grace alone. This religious world says Tom
Harding's a heretic. That's right. You're listening
to a heretic today. What they say, I tell you, I'm
preaching the gospel of the grace of God that our forefathers preached. All the way in this country and
the other country where we all came from, look at all those
old timers, Knox, Whitefield, Spurgeon, Calvin, Luther, Huss,
Knox, all those men were all sovereign gracers. If the Baptist
churches in this country and the Presbyterian churches in
this country would go back and read their early confessions,
they would be embarrassed what they're preaching today. They
don't preach what their forefathers preached. Now, four things. Got 10 minutes. Salvation, first
of all, is totally and fully in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Salvation is of the Lord. Let's see if we can find that
in the book of Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 4, verse
12. Acts chapter 4, verse 12. Remember
neither act 4 verse 12 neither is there salvation in any other
this is Peter before the same religious crowd The Sanhedrin
Jewish Council the stone which was said it not a few builders
has become the head of the corner verse 11 Neither is there salvation
in any other or there's none of the name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved he's saying that salvation
is all in Christ and Salvation's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we preach and what
we believe. Salvation's not in any denomination. It's not in any church. Salvation
is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. Neither is there salvation in
any other. He purposed our salvation from
eternity, and in time He came and accomplished salvation for
all of God's people. when he by himself purged our
sin, he sat down on the right hand of God, having accomplished
all his purpose." That's a witness of all his servants, Old Testament
and New. Jonas said, salvations of the
Lord. Simeon said in the temple when
they brought the babe, the Lord Jesus Christ, to do for him after
the custom of the law, he said, Lord, I'm ready to die in peace.
My eyes have seen thy salvation. He's holding that baby and he
said that salvation, that's salvation right there. He's my Savior.
Paul, the Apostle Paul said, I count everything lost, dung,
and ruined that I may win Christ and be found in him. You see,
the point is salvation in him. Who He is, God Almighty. John put it this way, this is
eternal life that they might know Thee, the only true God,
Jesus Christ. Peter put it this way in 1 Peter
2, He is precious to you who believe. He's the living stone,
He's the foundation upon which we rest and which we are built.
You see, it all gets back, it's all relative to Him. This lost religious world may
call that heresy to say salvation is all in Christ alone, but that
is the way we worship God. This is our confession. Christ
in his person is our Savior. Not in a denomination, not in
a sect, not in religion. Christ, Christ, Christ. One of the reasons I took Baptist
off the sign out front and put grace. We don't preach Baptist
doctrine. We preach salvation by the grace
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ alone, that's our confession,
is it not? This I confess. I'm guilty of
this, believing and preaching salvation all in Christ. Secondly,
salvation is totally by the sovereign grace of God, the sovereign mercy
of God alone, not of works, lest any man should boast. Have we
seen that before? Okay, let's turn back to Acts
chapter 15. Let's see if we can find that. Salvation by the grace
of God alone. You remember there was that question
over circumcision in Acts 15? They said, these religious Jews,
they said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you
cannot be saved. So they had this council and
this conference there in Jerusalem, and Peter stood up and cleared
the air. He said, now, verse 10, therefore, why do you tempt
God? to put a yoke upon the neck of disciples which neither our
fathers nor we can bear." We can't keep the law, but we believe. Here's what we confess. We believe
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we shall be
saved even as they. God's going to save the Jew the
same way he saved the pagan Gentile by his sovereign mercy, sovereign
grace alone. Excluding all human merit, all
human works, grace and grace alone. We say with the Apostle
Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. All the way back to Noah's
day. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. We know that salvation is God
who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to God's own purpose and grace given
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. The grace of God
is eternal grace. The grace of God is sovereign
grace. The grace of God is married to His purpose. God saves every
sinner whom he saves on purpose, by his grace, given in Christ,
before the foundation of the world. The way we worship God,
this religious world may call it heresy, that's the way we
worship God, saying salvation is all of grace, grace alone. That's my confession. That's
my message. Christ alone, grace alone. That was the theme of the Reformation,
was it not? That's what they stood for and
would not recant. And many of them, they burned
to the stake or killed them some other way. Thirdly, salvation is received. So how is it received? Well,
you know, it's in Christ and it's by grace, but... You've
got to do this requirement. You have to meet this demand.
You have to go here. You have to do this. You have
to do all these different things to appropriate what they say. How is salvation received then?
By faith. By faith. IS THE GIFT OF GOD. SALVATION
THEN, BEING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, IS RECEIVED BY FAITH. NOT BY
DOING, BUT BY BELIEVING. FAITH IS THE SOVEREIGN GIFT OF
GOD. IS IT NOT? OKAY. LET'S SEE IF WE CAN FIND THAT
HERE IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. I THINK WE CAN FIND THAT. LET'S
SEE. LET'S SEE OVER HERE. YEAH. OVER HERE, ACTS 13. THAT'S
WHERE IT IS. ACTS 13. I THINK THIS IS IT. Acts 13, 38, let's see. "'Be
it known therefore unto you, men and brethren, that through
this man.'" Oh, it's preached to you the forgiveness of sin.
See, I said it was in Jesus Christ, right? "'And by him all that
believed.'" right, are justified from all things which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses, you could not be justified. Well, who are those who believe?
Acts 13, look right across the page, verse 38, or 48 rather,
Acts 13, 48, and when the Gentiles heard this, that God came to save sinners. They were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed the gospel." Uh-oh. You mean God predestinated the
people to be like Christ? You mean God ordained the people
to be conformed to the image of Christ? What does that say?
As many as were ordained believed the gospel. Salvation is received
by faith. Romans 4, 16, Therefore it is
of faith, that it might be by grace, that the promise might
be sure to all the seed. It's of faith that it might be
by grace. This faith we know is a gift
of God. Oh, by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it's a gift of God. This faith,
the faith of God's elect, you know what it does? It loves the
truth. It believes the truth. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that believeth hath eternal
life. Faith has but one object. That
one object is the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, the gift of God,
is the faith that He gives to His people. The faith of God's
elect does not look in here. I feel like I'm saved. That's not it. Faith is not subjective. Faith doesn't look inwardly.
Faith looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Savior. He said, look unto me. Oh, he
ends up there. I'm God, besides me there is
no other. You see, salvation is by faith,
receiving Christ by faith. That's a gift of God. Now, the
way this religious world, they may call that heresy, faith alone,
Christ alone, the Word of God alone, that's the way we worship
God. That's the way we worship, that's
my confession. Christ alone, grace alone, faith
alone. The fourth thing, the Word of
God alone. Here's the fourth thing, salvation that is in the
Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of God that's received by faith,
gives all the honor and glory to who? Let's see if we can find
out. Acts chapter 11, turn over there.
You remember when Peter went to the house of Cornelius, and
he preached to those Gentiles, and he preached to them the Lord
Jesus Christ, and when he came back to Jerusalem and answered
to those church elders, verse 17, Acts 11, verse 17, for as
much then as God gave them the like gift, as he did to us who
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could say,
well, it's not right that God would give the gift of faith
to a Gentile. And when they heard these things,
they held their peace and they glorified God saying, then have
God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Repentance and faith are both
the gifts of God. Both faith and repentance both
acknowledge the truth of the gospel. Salvation is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The grand design of all that
God does in the saving of sinners is His glory. That's the grand
design. It's all that God does. It's
not the glory of the creature. It's the glory of God alone.
Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive all honor, glory,
and blessing. Here's what Jeremiah wrote. Or
here's what God wrote through Jeremiah. Thus saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 9. Let me just read it to you. Thus
saith the Lord. Well, maybe we ought to sit up
and pay attention. Thus saith the Lord. Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth, glorieth in this. that
he understands and he knows me, that I am the Lord, which exercise
loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. Just
what we read in John 16. Loving kindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight. Say
it to the Lord. Moses asked the Lord, Lord, would
you show me your glory? Remember what he said? I cause
all my goodness to pass before you, and I will be merciful to
whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. You see, God's glory, His mercy
is connected with His glory. The Apostle Paul said, God forbid
that we should glory, save, or accept in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this religious world, lost
religious world may call that heresy. That's the way we worship
God, giving him all the honor and glory. And we're not ashamed
of the gospel of God's sovereign free grace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what I preach unashamedly.
God is God. We are sinners. If God's gonna
save anybody, He's gotta do it. Salvation is all He's doing.
We say with the Apostle Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God and the salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith as it is written, all the just shall live by faith. Faith,
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Apostle said this in
closing, 2 Timothy 1, 12. For the which cause I suffer
these things. He's in prison, in Rome, waiting
for execution. Nevertheless, he said this, I
confess unto thee the way they call heresies, the way I worship
God. He said, for the which cause
I suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed
for I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. That's
my confession. Oh, they may call that heresy.
I don't care what they call it. They may call us sovereign gracers. Oh, sovereign gracers over there.
They may call us Calvinists. Those Calvinists over there. I don't care what they call us.
I'm not called upon the Lord. I know He saves sinners by His
grace and His purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm not
backing down or apologizing, not whatsoever. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ.