ACTS 24:14-16 THE CHRISTIAN CONFESSION2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 24:14-16 The Christian Confession

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. Here in Acts chapter 24, as I mentioned, we are looking at the Apostle Paul on trial.

And there at the beginning of the chapter, we read about the Jews coming up and bringing the lawyer with them to bring the accusations against Paul. And yet the accusations they brought and the things that they brought against him were not true. And Paul is confident of that. And he pretty much dismisses those things in just a couple of verses. He doesn't really spend a lot of time defending himself. In fact,

as we look at this passage this morning, we're going to focus on verses 14 through 16, where there's a change that takes place. And Paul switches from defending himself against these false accusations. And instead of defending himself, he really goes on the offense.

And he confesses, but not confesses to some wrongdoing or some crime. He confesses his faith. He confesses the reality of what he believes and the way that he lives his life. And in doing so, he declares for us what Christianity really is. And so I've titled the message this morning, The Christian Confession.

What we have in this defense from the Apostle Paul as he switches to offense, he clearly states and declares what the Christian faith is.

And it's not a confession that is limited to the Apostle Paul or apostles in general or first century Christians in general, but this is the confession of every true believer. This is the confession that he gives is one that we would also be able to declare and to state as followers of Jesus Christ.

And this morning, as we look at these things, I pray that God would use the example of the Apostle Paul to reinforce in you and give you a boldness and a confidence in the realities that we know as believers in Jesus Christ to be able to make the same confession. Today is also the first Sunday of the month, and so we will be partaking of communion at the end, which is

is something that the Lord gave us as a reminder that we would, from time to time and regularly, he says, consider what he did for us upon the cross and

In a similar way, as we look at the Christian confession this morning, I know that we know these things, and yet the Lord would want us to remember, to reflect, and to allow Him to reinforce these things that He has established in us by trusting in Him. And so as we look at the Christian confession this morning, there's four points that we'll walk through here in verses 14 through 16.

Point number one, found in verse 14, Paul says, I worship God through Jesus. This is the first part of the Christian confession. I worship God through Jesus. It's in this very particular way. He says in verse 14, but this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect,

So I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. Paul spent just a couple moments defending against those false accusations. He says, look, you're able to find, I was only in Jerusalem just 12 days ago. It just, there was not even time for me to start any kind of rebellion or revolt or defile the town, all this stuff. It's just nonsense. It's just nonsense.

But now as he switches gears, he says, but I do have a confession to make. I do want to make a statement. I do want to confess. And not a confession of guilt or not a confession of some crime, but a confession of how he chose to live his life, what he believes and why he lives the way that he lives. He says, here's my confession. According to the way I worship the God of my father's.

Now that term, the way, is a term that they would use to refer to themselves as Christians. In our day and age, we often refer to ourselves as Christians. We refer to ourselves as believers. We refer to, you know, the Christianity and that kind of thing. And so we're familiar. That's the terminology that we are using around, you know, these days. But for the first century church, they didn't have that term Christian yet.

It was around, but it was typically used by those outside of the church talking about those little Christs who were, you know, following Jesus. They referred to themselves, as you see throughout the book of Acts, as the way. That is, their doctrine, their practices, it was referred to as the way, and the people were followers of the way, or followers of Jesus Christ.

In Acts chapter 9 verse 2, we see that the Apostle Paul, before he was the Apostle Paul, when he was still Saul of Tarsus and persecuting the church, he was headed towards Damascus to see that if he could find any who were of the way, that is those who were followers of Jesus Christ, and he would bring them back bound to Jerusalem.

And so Paul used to persecute the way. He used to fight against the way and try to get people to turn away from the way. But now Paul declares clearly, boldly, publicly, according to the way, I worship the God of my fathers. This term, the way, probably comes from Jesus' declaration in John 14, verse 6.

where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. There Jesus made the very important declaration, the important statement that he is the way, that if there is anyone who gets to the Father, if there is anyone who enters into heaven, it is through Jesus Christ.

it's in response to Thomas who said, you know, how can we know the way? How do we know? You're going somewhere we can't go. How do we know the way? And Jesus says, I am the way. It's through knowing me. It's through trusting in me. It's through me that you have access to the Father. And so Paul, as he declares here before his accusers, the religious leaders, and before this Roman governor, Felix,

He declares, I believe in Jesus. Jesus declared he is the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to the Father. And Paul here is declaring, I believe that Jesus is the way. I believe that he is the only way to the Father. I believe that Jesus died upon the cross for sins. I believe that Jesus resurrected from the dead, completing the work and authenticating his claims.

to be the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to the Father. And Paul says, I identify with Jesus. I identify with the way. This is what I believe. This is how I live. Now, Paul gives us a little bit of a side note. He says, they call this a sect, but I'm still worshiping the same God I've always worshiped. A sect was a group of people, or it is a group of people that worshiped

differ from the group that they were originally a part of. And so, you know, if there was the Jews and they believed in one way and one thing, and now there's the Jews who believe in Jesus. And so they've grouped and gathered together. And so they were referred to as a sect. Now, it wasn't necessarily a negative thing because you also had the Pharisees amongst the Jews, as well as the Sadducees amongst the Jews. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees were both referred to as

sects as well. So they recognized that this was a distinct group who believed, but they had very particular beliefs, very distinct beliefs, but coming from the same root. And that's what Paul is saying. I worship the God of my fathers. They call us a sect, and we are distinct and different, but we're not departing from the roots of Judaism. Instead, Paul would say, I continue to worship the Father of

of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I continue to worship the God that I've always worshiped. Now with a better understanding, a fuller understanding to be sure, now that he has been introduced to Jesus, but he hasn't switched gods. He hasn't, you know, named a new God and started following some other way. He's saying, I continue to worship the same God, but it's through Jesus Christ that I now worship the Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

and Jacob. The commentator Burton Kaufman says, what was so clear to Paul was that Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism, a fact to which the ancient leaders of Israel were totally blind.

As you read through the rest of the New Testament, you find that those things that were established in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And so we are not looking at something that is a departure from what God had already established, but a fulfillment, a completion of what God had established. For a Jew to turn to Jesus, it wasn't a departure from Judaism. Now, it would be a departure from Judaism.

the traditions that the Jews were taught because on top of the scriptures and what God had actually revealed, they had established many traditions and many things that were not directly from God, but things that they had developed over the years. And so it wasn't a departure from the things that God had revealed. It was a departure from some of their traditions. And you can see that in the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders during his ministry.

For a Jew to turn to Jesus, it wasn't a departure from their doctrine and it wasn't a departure from their scriptures. In fact, it was the fulfillment and completion of their scriptures. You might think about it this way. It's kind of like having a driving permit and then going into a driver's license.

The driver's permit allows you to drive and you're learning the principles and it's the same basic things. Now, when you get your driver's license, it's not a complete departure from what you learned and what you taught, the principles and everything that you had under the permit. In fact, it's just a greater freedom and license to do the fulfillment of what you've been practicing to do it. And in a similar way, that was what it was like for a Jew to convert to follow Jesus Christ.

It wasn't a departure from Judaism. It was the completion as they embraced Jesus Christ as the Messiah. And so Paul here freely confessed, this is how I worship God. I worship God through Jesus. It's not a departure from what I've always believed. It's not a departure from the God I've always worshiped. But it's a particular focus on the teachings of Jesus Christ and approaching God by faith in Jesus Christ. I worship God according to the way Paul says.

This word worship, don't limit it to what we just did and having some time and singing worship songs to God. And of course, we know that that's an important part of worship. But the word worship simply means to serve. And it's particularly to serve, but not out of compulsion. It's not a slavery. It's a volunteer of giving myself to do what God wants.

to please God. And that's what Paul is saying here. I serve God. That's my lifestyle. What Paul is describing for us is his manner of life. I serve God. I live my life in a way that is, well, seeking to please God, to honor God, and to do what God wants according to the way, that is, according to the teachings of Jesus. And so here Paul is saying, I no longer try to present myself pleasing to God through my own efforts.

Prior to his encounter with Jesus, he would still worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but he would attempt to please God through his own efforts, his own zeal and passion for the law and for, well, even the persecution of those that he thought were against God. But no longer does he try to approach God through his own efforts. He approaches God by faith in Jesus Christ, according to the way.

He says, I serve God according to what Jesus taught. He declared himself to be the way, and he is the only way to the Father. The commentator Ironside says, Paul was not ashamed to declare that he recognized no other way to God, no other way to heaven than through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Christian confession.

There are not a multitude of ways that people can get to God. There is one way. There's not a multitude of ways for people to get to heaven. There is one way, and that is through Jesus Christ. And the Christian confession is, I worship God through Jesus. I come to God through Jesus.

through Jesus. I trust in God through Jesus. I have the hope of eternity through Jesus. It is through Jesus Christ that I learn how to serve God and worship God in the way that he desires for us to worship and serve him. Moving on to point number two, still in verse 14, here we have Paul's second part of his confession, and that is, I believe all scripture.

I believe all scripture, Paul says. Verse 14 again, but this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.

Here, Paul, as he continues his offense, not really a defense, but he is declaring clearly his position, his lifestyle, what he believes. He says, I believe all scripture. Again, Paul is saying they call this a sect, but it's not a departure from what we have been taught and what we have believed. It's not a departure from the scriptures.

Paul says, I still believe everything that is written in the law and in the prophets. I haven't thrown out the scriptures. I haven't thrown out the Old Testament, the covenant that God had established. I haven't thrown out the prophets and the things that God spoke through them. I still hold fast to those, Paul would say. I believe all things, everything that has been established. I believe it, Paul says.

Now, what we have in our Bibles and referred to and labeled as the Old Testament, it's not something new that was, you know, created just for the church. This is the scriptures that they had in Paul's day and in Jesus's day. That by the time of Christ, for several hundred years, they had already had this compiled group of books that they had understood to be inspired by God and delivered to them by Jesus.

Well, by the hand of God. It was accepted and agreed upon. These are the books that are inspired. And so we have several hundred years before Christ came on the scene, a translation of their Hebrew scriptures, our Old Testament, into Greek. It's called the Septuagint. And so we have established there a clear record of, well, these are the scriptures that the Jews believed were from God, inspired by God, and delivered to them.

And it's completely duplicated and capsulated in the translation of it so that you can look and see it's the same text, it's the same scriptures, so that when you see prophecy being fulfilled in the life of Christ, you don't have the temptation to go back and say, well, you know, this was fulfilled so clearly. It must have been written after Jesus, and they just pretended, you know, they wrote it before Jesus. No, several hundred years before Christ, we have...

The Hebrew scriptures, we have the Greek translation of that. It's established. These are the things that are from God. We also have a record from the life of Jesus that Jesus believed the Old Testament to be inspired truth. I would encourage you to consider Luke chapter 24, verse 44, where Jesus declares, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you.

that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Jesus, in speaking to his disciples after his resurrection, he said, I told you guys all of these prophecies had to be fulfilled. But as he is reminding them of those things that he had told them ahead of his crucifixion, he calls out,

three specific groups from the Old Testament. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. And this is the way that the Old Testament was often divided by the Jewish people. They would divide it into the Law, that is the writings of Moses, and then you had the Psalms or other writings, which included the Psalms, the Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and then you had the Prophets, which very, you know, clear to understand. It's Jeremiah, Isaiah, you know, the works of the Prophets. And

And so they had this distinct groups of the Old Testament scriptures. And Jesus here in referring to them, understand he's basically saying, I agree with these groupings. I agree that these groups of books are from God, inspired by God, and they must be fulfilled because they are the word of God. He put his stamp of approval, his seal upon them and said, yes,

These are the inspired scriptures. And so Jesus believed all scripture. That whole Old Testament that we have, he believed it. He said that it must be fulfilled. And there's still many prophecies that were given there in those Old Testament scriptures that have not yet been fulfilled, but will be fulfilled because Jesus said they must be fulfilled. They are the word of God.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus quoted from each one, again, establishing the reality that these indeed are inspired by God and the word of God. But of course, in our Bibles, we don't just have the Old Testament. We also have the New Testament. And as the Christian confession declares, I believe all scripture, we don't just intend that to be for the Old Testament, but also for the New Testament.

And Jesus in his ministry also laid down the foundation for the establishing of the New Testament. He prepared the way for there to be a New Testament and gave the authority and said, look, there's going to be some more things I will reveal to you. It's found in John chapter 16, verse 12 and 13, where Jesus, just a little bit before he was about to be crucified, tells his disciples, I still have many things to say to you, but

Verse 13, he says,

And so here Jesus lays the groundwork and establishes the foundation. I can't tell you everything that needs to be revealed to you, but after I'm gone, crucified, resurrected, ascended into heaven, I'm sending the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is going to reveal to you the things that I cannot share with you yet. There's going to be more revelation, more insight from me that the Holy Spirit is going to give you.

And in this declaration, Jesus makes the way for the teaching of the apostles, for them to hear from the Lord through the Holy Spirit and to bring forth the teachings of the Lord. Again, it prepares the way, it frames the way for the New Testament to be established. And we find it established in the book of Acts where it tells us in Acts 2.42, the church was steadfast in the apostles' doctrine.

They were steadfast in what the apostles taught. The Holy Spirit was speaking to the apostles, and they were bringing forth the word of God to the church there in Acts chapter 2. And so we have the Gospels, which is the apostles' record of the life and ministry of Jesus. But then after the Gospels, we have the epistles, that is the letters of

Many of them are written by Paul. And it's interesting that Peter, in his letter, in 2 Peter 3, refers to Paul's writings, Paul's letters, as scripture. In talking about Paul, he says, you know, Paul writes some things that are hard to understand. Paul writes some things that there's great mystery, great depth to them. And Peter says, you know, untaught and unstable people twist those things up

to their own destruction. And then he says, as they do the rest of the scriptures. There's crazy people who will twist the scriptures, Peter says. And they twist Paul's letters just like they do the rest of the scriptures. In other words, the letters are scripture as well.

They are inspired by God. And so it brings us to what we know in 2 Timothy 3. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. That is, the Old Testament is inspired by God.

It's profitable for doctrine. It's profitable for instruction. And as we read these things, even though it's 2,000 years after Christ, after what we're reading about here in the account of the Apostle Paul on trial, this is still the Christian confession. We still believe the Old Testament is inspired by God and profitable for

That as Christians, we don't get the opportunity to just kind of pick and choose which parts of the scripture we want to believe and which parts of the scriptures we want to think are from God. We receive and accept the whole Bible.

The Old Testament is inspired by God. The New Testament is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine and for instruction. This is the Christian confession. And Paul here clearly says, I believe all scripture. I believe it. I live it. I follow it. This is the word of God and the authority in my life. Well, moving on to verse 15, we have point number three now, and that is, I hope in the resurrection.

The Christian confession begins with, I worship God through Jesus. I approach the God of my fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through faith in Jesus Christ, through the way that he declared himself to be. And I believe all scripture. I haven't given up on the word of God. I haven't cast it out. I haven't, you know, thrown out those things, but hold fast to those things. Those are the inspired word of God. They are the standard for life.

Paul here has been declaring his lifestyle, his actions, his beliefs, and now he looks forward to his hope. I hope in the resurrection. Verse 15 says, And so as Paul makes his defense,

and goes on the offense. He looks forward to eternity and he says, I hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead. I have this hope of resurrection. Now, as Paul uses that word hope, the way that the scriptures use the word hope is different a little bit than the way that we use the word hope. When we use the word hope, typically we're talking about something where there's elements of uncertainty in it.

But the biblical words for hope don't have any elements of uncertainty. In the biblical word for hope, it's something that is certain, just hasn't happened yet. And so if you say, I hope the Dodgers win, well, there has to be elements of uncertainty in that, right? Or maybe you're just that confident. No, I'm certain. It's just a matter of time, the Dodgers win, right? No, that's not the truth. But

But biblically speaking, the word hope is, it's much more solid than the way that we use the word hope today. And so as Paul says, I hope in God, he's not saying, you know, I'm not really sure, but you know, it's just kind of what I wish for.

If my dreams could come true, there'll be a resurrection. That's not what Paul is saying. He is looking forward with absolute certainty. He's living his life based on the reality that there will be a resurrection of the dead. That's what Paul is declaring here. It's important to remember that man, that is humankind, male or female, man is eternal. We are eternal. Excuse me.

Still got remnants of that cough. We are eternal. That for every one of us and for everyone around us, for everyone who ever walks the face of this earth, there is more to life than this life. And sometimes that can be hard for us to remember. And we get distracted by this life because it's so right in front of us. And we're living right in the moment of it. But I'd like for you to take a moment and just think about this in a particular way with me. Think about it this way.

Where is the place in your life, up to this point in your life, you've lived in various places? Where is the place that you've lived for the shortest amount of time? That home, that city, that apartment, what place were you at for the least amount of time in the history of places where you have lived? Now for me, as I look back at my life, that was, well, that short period of just several months where I lived in Anaheim.

I was born in Bellflower, kind of spent a couple years as a baby and a young toddler in the Norwalk area. Moved out to Riverside, pretty much grew up the rest of my life in Riverside. But after about 18 years in Riverside, my parents decided to move to Anaheim. And so, still being, living at home, I went with them and we moved to Anaheim. We stayed there for a very short time, I think maybe about four or five months.

And then my parents decided to move to Nevada, and they moved to northern Nevada. And I visited and took a look and said, no way am I going to move there. So I stayed here, and I moved into Pastor Tom's house in Norco. But there was this short time, as I look back now, there was this four, five, six months where I lived in Anaheim. And as I look back at that, I know it happened, but I can barely, I can't even picture the house. I can't picture my room. I can't picture, like, how to get there. I know you got off at Lincoln off the 57th.

I know generally kind of where it is, but you know, it was so short, and it was so far removed by this point, it's kind of hard for me to remember the details. I don't have real strong, clear memories of that house in Anaheim. It's almost like it never happened because it was...

Such a short time there in that place. Maybe there's a place like that in your life as well. You look back and you know you live there, but man, it was just such a short time. You were only there for a little bit and it's kind of hard to remember. The details are vague. Now think about this. The shortest time that you will ever be in any place is the time that you spend here on earth. This earth, this life, whether you live 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years, you're

Your time on this earth will be the shortest time you spent anywhere. Because as you enter into eternity, 10,000 years from now, you'll look back to, I think there was a time, yeah, I remember this, like this real short time. I can't remember, it was a long time ago. But yeah, I used to live on earth and there was mountains and rivers and oceans and surfing and volleyball. Obviously, we'll have perfect memory and I'm exaggerating a little bit. But the concept is there that

This life is so short compared to the rest of eternity. I know we're living in the midst of it, so it feels like it takes forever. And it feels like, you know, tomorrow is never going to get here. It feels like this dentist appointment is never going to end, right? It feels like, and time just like drags on sometimes. But in reality, we are eternal. And what we do here in this life, this is the shortest amount of time we will ever spend anywhere, right?

Because after this is eternity and we'll spend thousands and thousands of years and beyond in the presence of the Lord and in new things that God has in store for us. Maybe think about it this way. Would you spend $100,000 to remodel your hotel room? No, because you're just staying there a short time, right?

We have that perspective. We understand, hey, this isn't the way I would put the furniture. I would lay it out different. I wouldn't use this bedspread. You know, I would use something else. I wouldn't have that picture, you know. But you don't go in there and remodel because I'm just here for a short time. That's not what it's for. In a similar way, we need to have this approach and have this understanding and remember that this life is temporary. As permanent as it feels and as it feels like it takes forever, it's not.

We need to remember and hold back to this truth that I hope in the resurrection, there's a certainty. This life is temporary. It's not permanent. It's not forever. It's just a small piece. It's the first step of the rest of what God has in store for us. In talking about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable people

But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Paul says, look, if it's only in this life that we have hope in Christ, if our Christian life only benefits us in this life for this time that we have here on this earth, he says, we're above all men most pitiable. This is the worst religion ever if it just benefits us here in this life. Not worth it, Paul says. But that's not the reality.

He says, Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. That is, Christ has resurrected and his resurrection is the firstfruits. That concept of firstfruits is the promise of more to come. When they would offer a firstfruits offering of their crop, they would take a small portion of their crop and they would offer it to the Lord. And it was the promise, the expectation of there's the rest of the field to harvest. Right?

the rest of the crop to bring in. The resurrection of Jesus is the first fruit. That is, it's the promise of those who believe in Jesus, those who follow Jesus will also be resurrected. It was just the beginning when Jesus resurrected. It was the promise that everyone who believes in him will also have everlasting life by faith in his name. And so Paul says, I have hope in the resurrection.

I live my life based on the reality of eternity after this life. And it's interesting as we look at verse 15, again, here in Acts chapter 24, Paul points out that this resurrection is not just for believers in Jesus. He says it's both of the just and the unjust. And this is a very important element of Paul's statements here. Resurrection is not just for believers.

Again, all of us, every person, and all those around us are eternal. Every single person will be resurrected. There will be a resurrection for the just as well as the unjust. Unbelievers do not just cease to exist. They will be resurrected. There is a resurrection for them as well. Jesus declares this in John chapter 5, verse 28 and 29. He says, the hour is coming in which those who

All who are in the grave will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. And this is an important element of resurrection for us to remember. Although we rejoice greatly in the hope and the promises of resurrection that we have in Christ, we must not forget the reality that there is also the resurrection of the unjust and

And this truth, when we grasp hold of it, will hugely influence the way that we live, just as it did the Apostle Paul. And he explains that in the next verse. We'll get to that in just a moment. In the resurrection of life, believers in Jesus will stand before God to give account. And they'll be rewarded for service to God. They will not be judged for sin because that was paid for at the cross and they have believed in Jesus. Amen.

But those who are resurrected in condemnation will stand before God to give account and be judged for their sin. H.A. Ironside, the commentator, says, If men die in their sins, they will be raised in their sins. And in their sins, they will stand before the great white throne and be judged for their sins and condemned throughout eternity. Again, it's a hard truth, but it's an essential truth. Every person will be resurrected.

Some will be participating in the resurrection of life, but others will be participating in the resurrection of condemnation. Now, of course, we need to reflect and consider which resurrection will I be partaking in? That's important. And go back to, I worship God through Jesus Christ. That's the way to ensure that resurrection of life. But also it impacts the way that we interact with the world around us.

It impacts the urgency that we have with the gospel message. It impacts what we do because, again, the shortest time I will ever be in any place is the time that I spend right here on this earth. After that is eternity, and that's much longer than the 70 or 80 years that I have here. If that, I need to be living my life with the reality of eternity in mind. And when I do it, it will change. And so we get to see the result of Paul's confession here.

Now again, his confession so far, I worship God through Jesus. I approach God, I follow God, I serve God through what Jesus taught and by faith in Jesus Christ. I believe all scripture. I hold fast to the word of God and recognize it as the authority in my life. And now I hope in the resurrection and I accept the reality of eternity for those who are righteous, for those who believe in Jesus, as well as for those who do not.

And so he explains the result in verse 16. Here we get point number four, and that is, I do my best to live right. Verse 16 says, this being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Paul says, because of my faith, this being so, because I believe that

all scriptures, because I hope in the resurrection, because I worship God through Jesus Christ, because of this, the way that this is lived out in my life, he says, I strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. I strive, I work hard to live my life in a way that does not offend God or the people around me.

And I would suggest to you this morning, this is what it looks like when the gospel is lived out. When the gospel is accepted genuinely. When there is a real conversion that takes place. This is what it looks like in someone's life. That then we strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. And I would ask you to consider this morning, does that describe your life? Does that describe God?

Your day-to-day, does that describe this week for you that you have been working hard to live right, to please God and to not be an offense to the people around you? What does it mean to have a conscience without offense towards God and men? John Gill, the commentator, describes it this way. It means to discharge every duty which God requires and to give every man what is due to him so as to please God and to not offend men.

to discharge every duty which God requires. Again, I would ask you to consider this week. Did you discharge every duty which God requires this week? Did you live your life to please God in this way? And did you work hard not to offend? Now, sometimes it's fun to offend, right? And it's a little bit fun to kind of just poke people and kind of ruffle their feathers and watch them flail around and get all red in the face. And it's kind of enjoyable and entertaining. And everywhere Paul went, people would get riled up.

as demonstrated by the riot where they tried to kill him when he got arrested by the Romans and now is on trial for the third time for that event. But it's important to note that throughout Paul's life, none of this was because he just went around poking people to provoke them to wrath. They were offended by the truth. They got worked up because they disagreed with Jesus Christ. They disagreed with the truth. But Paul, for his part, was always very careful about

to try to maintain some kind of peace that he might have opportunity to bring forth the gospel to the people around him. Consider what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10. He tells the Corinthians, give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Paul says, I've set an example for you, Corinthians. You need to work hard to not offend. Now, that doesn't mean you water down the truth and don't, you know, tell people the truth because it's offensive. No, but delivering the truth in love is far different than just being annoying, than just being a jerk. We can deliver the truth, you know, in a jerky way and ruffle people's feathers and kind of get a little bit of enjoyment out of it, you know?

I remember as a kid, I would say nothing is more satisfying than using my dad's own words against him. You know, just like that. Like, ooh, yeah. Gotcha. And sometimes we could be like that. But listen, Paul says, look, you need to work hard. This is what I do.

Because of the reality, particularly of the resurrection of the unjust, listen, my biggest issue is that they need to be saved. Regardless of whatever other disagreements or issues that we might have or ways that I might offend, I need to let those things go, Paul is saying. Not for my profit, but that they might have the opportunity to be saved, that I might have the opportunity to share the gospel. Give no offenses, Paul says. It's not that people will never be offended. It's that they will never be offended.

but that you work hard because you worship God through Jesus, because you believe in the, or believe all scriptures, because you hope in the resurrection. Do your best to live in a way that is pleasing to God, fulfilling all your duties and obligations, doing everything that God desires and serving him wholeheartedly because you're gonna stand before him one day and give an account. But also do your best to please men, not compromising the truth,

But go out of your way to not offend. Go out of your way to maintain bridges and maintain opportunities for you to be able to share the gospel, for there to be a means for you to witness Jesus Christ. Paul says, this has been the rule of my life. And so he's on trial because they were offended. But Paul is declaring here, it's not because I'm going around provoking people. They disagree with what I believe.

But I'm desiring it. And even here in this defense, Paul here is giving opportunity as he declares the truth once again of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. Paul says, I worship God through Jesus. I no longer try to present myself pleasing to God through my own efforts. I approach God by faith in Jesus, and I serve God according to what Jesus taught. And he says, I believe all scripture.

The Old Testament, the law, the prophets, it's inspired by God. I believe it. It's profitable for doctrine. I follow it. It's the standard for my life. I hope in the resurrection. I know there's going to be a resurrection for the just as well as the unjust. And these truths govern my life so that I do my best to live right before God and before men. This was Paul's confession. It is the confession of every Christian.

And so I would ask you to consider this morning where you stand on these things. Let it reinforce you where you need to be built up and encouraged and to be reminded of the realities of the Christian life and the Christian faith. If you're out of line, if you've kind of wandered or wavered, then it's time to shore up those things. And of course, this morning, as we partake of communion, it's a perfect opportunity for us to spend some time with the Lord, reconnect with him and allow him to bring us back in line with

with the truth that he's called us to walk in. I'm going to invite the worship team. You guys can come on up and the ushers are going to prepare. They're going to lead us in a song. And as they do, the ushers are going to pass out the bread and the cup. And during the song, anytime you're welcome between you and the Lord, as you're

having your conversation with the Lord and discussing where you stand regarding the Christian confession, then you can partake as you come to agreement with God and recommit and reaffirm and establish yourself in the truths that God has presented. You can partake between you and the Lord at any time during the song. Kim will give you an opportunity at the end if you haven't partaken at the end of the song. But as we head into this time of communion, Jesus gave us the bread.

He said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And he gave us the cup and he said, this is my blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sin. Do this, do this often and remember me. And so we have these elements, the bread and the cup to remember Jesus, to remember the cross, to remember what Jesus accomplished for us, what he did for us, how much he loves us, to remember what we believe and the confession that we make.

And this morning, I pray that you would partake of communion with this same confession, that as you partake, you are declaring, I worship God through Jesus Christ, and I believe all scripture. I hope in the resurrection, and I'm going to do my best to live right. I'm going to fall short. I'm going to offend God, and I'm going to offend man, but I can come back to the cross and remember the bread and remember the cup, the forgiveness that I have by faith in Jesus Christ.

And so this morning we have that opportunity, no matter where we came from, to be washed again, to have a reset of all whatever happened this past week or this month or this year, and to get back to living the life that God has called us to live. And so let's worship the Lord together again. You can partake at any time between you and the Lord during the song.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.