[0:00] This sermon is by Reverend John McSweet. The text is from the 24th chapter of Acts, verses 14 and 15. Help us, we beseech from thee, to call upon thee, numbering us with those of whom it is true.
[0:30] That the Spirit helps their infirmities. We know not what to ask for. We know not how to ask as we are.
[0:53] And the hearing is revealed. The desperate wickedness of our heart.
[1:08] The desolation that sin has brought in us.
[1:46] That thou hast made a way of access to thyself. A way on which thou leadest thine own.
[2:00] That thou hast made a way of access to the Lord.
[2:32] That thou hast made a way of access to the Lord. That thou hast made a way of access to the Lord. That thou hast made a way of access to the Lord. And that thou hast thou done.
[2:44] That thou hast made a way of access to the Lord. That thou hast made a way of access to the Lord. him victory hath won. Grant that our confidence may be holy in thyself. Grant that we may be so exercised in mine as to glorify thee. Wendering to thee what is thine? Even glory and honour much as thee and strength. Mark not our iniquities against us we beseech of. Our sins testify against us. Our iniquities have like the wind carried us away. And we have nothing to plead on our own behalf. No justification for our sins. O blessed man. Grant that we may realise more and more deeply that all our righteousnesses are as healthy life. That we may cease from the endeavour of justifying ourselves. And that we might resort to thee for our justification, for our pardon of our iniquity, for our gathering of our sin. May we be found in this exercise,
[5:01] Пот台 of memorable war in this style. The 약간 of scribes même hier die com Thou hast come to call, not righteous, but sinners to repentance.
[5:44] May we therefore know what it is to draw near unto thee in Christ Jesus, leading his marriage, making mention of his righteousness and of his own.
[6:08] We pray thee to save us from the deceitfulness of our heart, from the hypocrisy thereof, and work in us a sincerity that thou commandest, a sincerity without which we cannot see thee.
[6:34] Lord, wilt thou not for thy mercy say, Make known what thou canst do, by working in us to will and to do.
[6:52] Of thy good flesh be with us as we would further wait upon. Bless us as individuals, bless us as a people, Do thou thyself be gracious unto us as families.
[7:12] Thou art the God of the families of Israel, O that thou would be our God. We pray thee to remember such as are cast out, Such as have to pass through things that are not joyous, But grievous, while they are present.
[7:40] Thou art able to make them work for their good, For they do work for good to them who are exorcised by them.
[7:55] Lord, be with us now, and be with all the congregations of thy people, Blessing thy word as it is fed and proclaimed.
[8:06] Take away all who sin, And accept of us in Christ, In whom thou shalt have the praise. Amen.
[8:17] l Comm interested in your light by fire, Oh, my God, my God, my God, you are dead.
[8:42] My mother is in Hashem but my God is strong, my daughter is those, these ones, those ones are Mister.
[9:08] Now we may now consider As we shall be enabled Words you will find In the chapter read The book of the Acts Of the Apostles The 24th chapter Acts chapter 24 And we shall read again From verse 14 Reading from the 14th verse But this I confess Unto thee That after the way Which they call heresy So worshipped I The God of my fathers Believing all things
[10:12] Which are written in the law And in the prophets And have a hope Toward God Which they themselves also allow That there shall be A resurrection of the dead Both of the just And unjust And herein do I exercise myself To have always a conscience Void of offense Toward God And Toward Men This would seem A concession To Paul's accuser But
[11:16] It was not meant By himself To be a concession It is a statement Of truth Which did not Militate Against his position As he stands To defend himself This is his I confess That according To the way Which they call Heresy So worshipped I The God of my fathers As if he had said There is a difference Between their way of worship And mine There is a difference
[12:17] Between us On one Basic principle There is a difference Of attitude Between us Concerning Jesus of Nazareth That I alone Of that There can be No doubt But while that is so We are also agreed On certain things We have hope In God And we look For A resurrection Both of the Just And of The unjust
[13:19] And if they Exercise themselves To avoid Offence Towards God And towards man So do I The fact that We differ On the basic Question of Justification Does not at all Tell In their favor For while I Hold that Indeed Yet I Exercise Myself I am Concerned In this matter To keep A conscience Void Of events That is We might say Generally The import Of this Part Of his Defense Now to deal
[14:22] With the words A little more Specifically Or rather With some Of the words Here There is First of all The interesting Word Heresy I Confess That according To their View I am a Heretic Now a Heretic Is one Who is Out of Agreement With Prevailing Notions And Doctrines To be A Heretic In this Sense Of the Word Has Nothing Unfavor Of Connected With It It All Depends From Whose Viewpoint We Are Heretics
[15:22] Paul Was A Heretic And He Allows That He Doesn't Say Of course That he Was A Heretic In The Sense Of Denied Truth He In Fact He Argus Against That Point But That He Was A Heretic According To The Doctrine Of The Pharisees He Allows And Of Of Of As Always We Have The Master Stroke In This Connection What Does He Say A Heretic As I May Be From Their Viewpoint Yet I Believe All Things Which Are Written In The Law
[16:22] And In The Prophets He Is Willing In Other Words To Decide This Question By Authority Which Is Allowed On Both Sides And Of Course That Authority Is The Law And The Prophets That Is The Word Of God If I Am Called A Heretic And At The Same Time Believe All That Was Written In The Law And In The Prophets Then I Am Not Greatly Concerned About The Term Call Call Me A Heretic Yes But I Believe All That Is Written And Of Course Indirectly He
[17:23] Turns On Them To Charge Two Contradictory Statements Cannot Be Two Of The Same Thing At The Same Time Now If According To The The The Men Who Came Down From Jerusalem The Representatives Of The Temple If Paul Was A Heretic According To Them Then It Is Very Much To The Point That Their Own Standing Should Be Exact It Is Very Much To The Point That What They Believed Should Be Tried In The Balance And That Is Precisely The At Least The Inference Of The Apostle And Saying According To Them
[18:23] I Am A Heretic Yet I Believe All That Is Written In The Law And In The Prophets In Passive We May Note That Paul Did Not Shrink From Odious Terms It Is Not Complimentary To Call Any Man A Heretic But Paul Was Willing To Be Even That Knave As Long As It Was Understood What It Matter I Am A Heretic According To Their Way Of Thinking And Their Way Of Doing Things But I Was A God I
[19:23] Was God He Certainly Is No Agnostic I Worship God That's My Stat And I Worship Him Believing What God Has Stated And Declared Of Himself And Any Man Who Does That Is Not A Heretic In The Usual Connotation Of That Her I Worship God Now This Is The Only Worship That God Accepts The Worship That Is Offered According To That Which He Has Revealed
[20:24] Of Himself Now See The Difference That Comes Out Here Here Are Two Parts Disagreeing On Certain Matters Concerning The Law Or To To be To be More Precise Disagreeing On Certain Matters Concerned The Fulfillment Of Prophecy For That After All Was The Basic Contention Between The Believers And The Unbelievers Those Who Believed In Jesus Believed In The Fulfillment Of Prophecy They Believed That The Messiah Who
[21:25] Had Been Promised From The Beginning Had Come The Rest Disbelieved This They Still Waited For The Messiah And They Are Still Waiting And They Will Go On Waiting For There Will Not Be Another Messiah This Was The Contention Then The Basic Contention Between Them It Can Be Resolved To To The Fulfillment Of God Jesus Of Nazareth Made The Division Between Them I Was God But I Was In A Certain Way I Was In Believing
[22:26] That He Has Fulfilled With His Hand What His Mouth Had Promised I Worship As God Who Has Accomplished That Which He Has Promised Who Has Sent His Son In The Lightness Of Sinful Flesh And For Sin That He Might Condemn Sin In The Flesh Now This Was Bound To Make A Difference In To Worship Over The Different Parties Here Concerned One Look To God For The Fulfillment Of Prophecy The Other Praise God For That Fulfillment
[23:28] Already Accomplished I Was God Notice What The Hennessy The Heresy Was That Paul Believed That The Messiah Had Come And Of Course Believing That There Was Of Necessity A Profound Change In His Attitude To God To Life To Death And To The Resurrection Although The Others Held In Part At Least The Same Truth They Believed In Resurrection That Is The Pharisees Did The Sadducees Didn't Don't But The Pharisees Believed In Resurrection But Notice They Had No
[24:28] Proof Of Resurrection Paul Believed In Resurrection That Had Taken Place The Pharisees Believed In It But They Had No Proof Of It They Didn't Believe In The Resurrection Of Jesus Paul Did And You Will Notice That The Doctor Of Resurrection In The Scriptures And Especially In The Epistles Of Paul That That Doctrine Is United Or Intimated Linked With The Resurrection Of Christ Paul's Theology On This Point Is Christ Or Centric It Derives Its Validity From
[25:29] The Resurrection Of Christ He Believed In The Resurrection But He Had Proof Of It He Knew That Resurrection Had Already Taken Place That Is The Resurrection Of Jesus And He Worshipped God In This Light Believing All That Was Written In The Law And In The Proverbs Notice Now The Difference There May Be In Belief The Pharisees Believed That True At Least So They Prophessed They Believed In The Lord In The Prophets So Did Paul But Did They Believe In The
[26:29] Same Way Did Believe On The Same Grounds Or No And That Is Of By By By By By Importance In The Way In Which We Cherish Our Beliefs The Pharisees Had What We Might Call A Naked Belief In The Law And In The Prophets It Wasn't Clothed With Fulfillment It Was An Object Of Hope But There Was Nothing Which Could Bolster That Hope There Was Nothing Of Which They Knew That Could Put That Hope Out Of Question They Believed And They Hoped All
[27:30] Very Well As Hard As It Went But See The Assurance That Was Last They Could Not In The Nature Of Things Stand In The Same Relationship To Those Matters As Paul Did I Believe All That The Prophets Have Spoken But I Believe Them In The Light Of Their Fulfillment I Oh What A Distress That Me I See Them Full Thing I Believe What The Coffits I Was Not Known To Them That Doesn't Mean That I Didn't Know The Name Jehovah Oh No They Did Know That Me Yet God God
[28:30] Himself Says By My Name Jehovah I Was Not Known Unto Him Now The Only Meaning That We Can Take Out Of That Is That The Name Jehovah Means The God Who Fulfills His Promise They Knew That He Had This Name But They Didn't Know Him As Fulfilling His Promise What Was The Promise That He Would Give Them The Land Of Canaan They Didn't Know Me They Didn't Know This Name What Was What Was Meant By It They Knew Of Course In Theory They Knew That God That The Word Yahweh Or Jehovah Meant The Self Sufficient The Promise Fulfilling God But They Hadn't Sinned The Fulfillment Of The Promise They Died In Hope Not
[29:30] Having Received The Promise Not The Promise Itself Of But The Fulfillment Of It Well Here Is The Same As These Others Did Not Know The God Of Israel Under His Name Tim Over As Concerning The Messiah They Had Every Opportunity Of Knowing Him In That Way But They Refused To Consider The Evidence They Refused To Allow The Evidence But Not So In The Case Of Paul He Knew God As Jehovah In Relation To The Comet Of Messiah And Under This Name He Could Worship Him Intelligently Not Only As A Ground Of Hope But
[30:31] As A Ground Of Accomplishment This Name Had Been Proved To Him Proved In Connection With The Hope Of Isra And The Hope Of Isra Always Works The Messiah The Messiah They Called My Way Harrison But Paul Was In A Harky Position Of Knowing His Present Position And His Past Position These Men Could Teach Him Nothing About The Doctrine Of The Phantasy They Could Teach Him Nothing About The Law And The Prophets He Was At Least As Well Versed In These As They Were In All Probability
[31:32] He Could Have Taught Them Much Concerning That Which They Themselves Professed He Knew It All But He Knew Something They Did Not Know They Couldn't Understand His New Position They Knew The Old One Yes But They Knew What They Could Not Understand Hence They Persecuted They Brought All Manners Of Accusation Against Him Why Because They Couldn't Understand The Position He Occupied They Didn't Know Anything About It But We Say He Was In The Happy Position Of Knowing Both Sides And
[32:32] The Man Of Course Who Knows The Both Sides Of My Case Is In A Position That Is Impacted Certainly Those Who Don't Know Cannot Attack What They Don't Know They Can Accuse It They Can Miss Call It But They Can Attack It They Have No Ammunition For Attack And Perhaps We May Say In Passing That When Paul Is Standing In Self Defense You Will Have Not This When He Stands In Self Defense He Always Refers To His Change Of Position He Explains It We Have The Echoes Of That Change In This Book Of Acts And
[33:34] Always In The Same Circumstances He Is Defending His Position And He Always Refers To This He Goes Back To The Source To The Origin It Is In The Way They Call Heresy But To Me It Is No Heresy It Is The Fulfillment Of God's Word Spoken In The Law And In The Prophets There Is No Inconsistency As There Is No Ambiguity Everything Is Crystal Clear To Him That Is The Advantage We Say He Has It Is Not Crystal Clear To Them It Is All Obscure Why They Don't Hold
[34:34] The Key To The Riddle They Love The Key It Is Close To Them The Key Was This The Vision Of The Christ The Knowledge Of The Messiah They Didn't Adam As Someone Put It It Was To Them An Enigma Within A Conundrum Or A Conundrum Within An Enigma Insoluble Unintelligent To Them It Is Heresy Indeed And It Will Be Heresy To Them As Long As They Occupy The Position They Now Occupy It Will Be Heresy To Them Until The
[35:35] Glory Of Jesus Of Nazareth Shines Upon Them Then It Will Be No Heresy It Will Be The Doctrine Of The Doctrine Of The Prophets The Doctrine Of The Law The Doctrine That Was Propounded First In In Even When God Gave Promise I Will Put End Between Thy Seed And Her Seed He Shall Bruise Thy Head And Thou Shalt Bruise His Heed I Confess This It Is After The Way They Call Hence That I Worship But I Was Jehovah The God Of My Heart The God Of Israel Of Ice
[36:36] I Cannot Take I Was Him Believing I Cannot Have Take His Butt But There Is A Certain Irony In That Word Believing As If He Had Said I Believe What The Law And The Prophets Say See How Sad These Men Are About The Law And The Prophets They Accused Me Of Not Observing What The Law Demands Of Not Believing The Prophets See How Sellers They Are But I Believe What The Law And The Prophets And Believe It In A Way They Don't If There Is Any Unbelief It Is Not On My
[37:36] Part It Is On Their It Turns The Accusation On Themselves Believing Believing The Law What Is Written In The Law And In The Prophets And Have Hope Toward God What I Believe Is Calculated To Produce Hope To Generate Hope To Strengthen Hope What I Believe And Especially What I Believe Concerning The Doctrine Of The Resurrection What Do I Believe Oh Well What We Have Already Indicated
[38:36] As If He Had Said I Know The Truth Of That Doctrine For I Met With One Who Has Come Back From The Dead That Was More Than Any Of Them Could Say I Met Jesus Of Naz For Rather He Met Me He Spoke To Me As One Who Is Alive From Death And In Him And By Him And Through Him I Know The Truth Of The Doctrine Of The Resurrection I Have Hope Hope Towards God I Have It Which They Did Not And Could Not HaveIL
[39:36] Perhaps One of theЗiteguh Characteristics Of Judaism Is This Hope And It There is a strange blending of these two.
[39:59] They cannot really blend. But side by side you can feel hope and despair. And not only is that true in general of the doctrine, it is true of the history.
[40:20] It is a history of hope. It is a history of despair. That might require some elucidation but we take it that you know what we mean.
[40:32] Now, as concerning Paul, the element of despair has vanished.
[40:44] His horizon was bright. His horizon had no cloud in it as far as this was concerned because the sun shone in it, in its vanity and splendor.
[41:04] His horizon shone in that horizon as the sun of righteousness. Hope concerning God.
[41:15] Concerning the resurrection from the dead. But there is another problem. And with that we think, is this a hope or is it something to be dreaded?
[41:34] Paul rejoiced in the hope of the resurrection. It wasn't something that he dreaded.
[41:46] It was something to which he looked forward with keen anticipation. I have hope.
[41:58] Hope that there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. Now, if we understand it, and if we understand ourselves, there is no doctrine that should produce in us so much despair or so much hope as the doctrine of the resurrection.
[42:29] To think of the resurrection of the unjust. And in connection with resurrection in the scripture, there is always judgment.
[42:40] As we read in this book itself, He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man which he has appointed.
[42:58] Whereof he has given assurance to all men by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The doctrine of the just and the unjust.
[43:18] Does this produce hope? Or is it something to which we give our assent with fearful forebordings?
[43:35] Well, if we understand anything at all about it, it should be the one or the other. And furthermore, it is often a doctrine that produces all in the same mind.
[43:50] If anybody can contemplate the awful sin of a world called to judgment.
[44:02] If anybody can contemplate that sin with a emotion. Then it is clear proof that they don't either know anything about it or that they don't believe, they don't understand what it means.
[44:21] It is so august. So awful in itself. As that it certainly should produce solemnity of spirit athletes.
[44:32] But this is hope. And nothing but hope for the believer. As it is despair.
[44:45] And nothing but despair for the unbeliever. Hope toward God. He will do this. He has given assurance of it.
[44:57] Now I believe in this. But he believed it with joy. He looked forward to this. But what did he only do? An article of faith. It was the strength of his spirit. Something on which he relied. Something on which he relied.
[45:08] Something to which he looked forward. Something which he looked forward. Something which was the consummation.
[45:19] Something on which he relied. Something to which he looked forward.
[45:30] Something which was the consummation of his hope. There will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust.
[45:46] And as such. They allow that. I believe it.
[45:57] My life is framed according to it. And because of it I exercised myself to keep my conscience. I do not know what God and what men.
[46:17] Only faith can give us to live in the light of the seed. And the life of faith is always lived in the light of the judgment seed.
[46:29] I exercised myself to keep a conscience void of offense.
[46:41] These people accuse me of impiety. Of ungodliness. Of having proclaimed the temple.
[46:53] They do. But I am a judge that is above them. And in my relation to him I exercise myself.
[47:08] But also in relation to men. Hence his defense being. That's why he defends himself. Or defends his position.
[47:19] That he exercises himself. To keep a conscience void of offense. If he didn't care about what men thought.
[47:31] He didn't go to the trouble of defending himself. He was only concerned. But. His religion. His piety was such.
[47:43] That it first concerned itself with God. And then. With the fellow man. To keep a conscience. Void of offense.
[47:56] That is his defense. And he challenges his accusers. To prove otherwise.
[48:07] The case against him. Is very poorly conducted. Tertullus the orator.
[48:21] May have been a good orator. But in this instance. He had a bad case. And when a man has a bad case. To deal with it. To deal with it.
[48:32] Doesn't matter. How brilliant to use. The badness of his kiss. Insinuates itself. Into his. Endeavors to. To. To prosecute that kiss.
[48:44] Tertullus. He did his best. A poor best it was. They had failed to bring the right witnesses. Those who were there could prove nothing.
[48:59] And. If there had not been a miscarriage of justice. Paul would have been set. There and there. But he had to deal with men. Who had an eye to their own interests. See what is said at the end of the chapter.
[49:10] Felix looked. For a bride. And when the administrators of justice. Look for a bride. Then. Justice itself. Is God. He thought that something would have been given to him. Of all. And he said to him. To him.
[49:21] To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him.
[49:32] To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To him. To Arthur. To him. To him.
[49:43] To him. To him. For attack. The Jesus. That thing. And he. To him. To him. To him. Ahead.
[49:54] Ahead. To him. To Him. To him. To him. To him. And he. To him. To him. He had to. To him.
[50:05] To him. To him. Job. Corruption in high places.
[50:16] Corruption in the administration of justice. There is nothing that can undermine society so quickly and so effectively as that.
[50:30] Corruption in high places. Well, so it was here. And despite the clarity and the persuasiveness with which Paul presented his case, he is ill and bound in order to please.
[50:57] One word in conclusion. The way of life is not always acknowledged in this life. The man who keeps a conscious void of offense towards God and towards man is not looked upon as a hero at all.
[51:19] No. He is often harmful to all. But there is a resurrection.
[51:30] There is judgment to come. And when Paul reasoned for righteousness, excellence and judgment to come, he likes trembling.
[51:45] He didn't like that at all. No, no. He didn't like it. He trembled. And he had reason to.
[51:57] He trembled. As we all have of course. Church men too come. He trembled.
[52:08] Well, so this man makes his position clear. And makes his position clear in a way worthy of imitation.
[52:19] I worship God. I worship God. Believe. All that is said in the Lord and the prophets. Having hope of a resurrection of the just and the unjust.
[52:34] Hence, I exercise myself to keep my conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.
[52:45] May this be true of us. Let us pray. O Lord bless you. Graciously bless us according to the riches of thy grace.
[53:01] O give us to believe what we ought to believe concerning this. Give us to bless thy name for what thou art.
[53:12] For what thou hast revealed of thyself. Undertake for us and take away all our sins.
[53:22] And especially our sins in holy. O cleanse us. And then we shall be whiter than the snow. For Christ's sake.
[53:34] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.