Well, please turn with me now to Acts 24, and we'll read again from verse 14.
But this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the just and the just.
So I always take pains to have a clear conscience towards both God and man.
One of the wonderful things about the Bible is that because it is indeed reliable in all that it says, reliable in its account of events such as this, as you read a passage like this, you're really being transported effectively back to that occasion.
And today we're just standing, as it were, in this courtroom, listening to these proceedings.
Paul making his defense, Tertullus, this professional lawyer type of figure, laying out the charges against him.
The charges were threefold, that Paul was a troublemaker, that he was a ringleader of this sect, that he was a profaner of the temple.
Tertullus was hired particularly for this purpose.
This would be his occupation.
He was a kind of lawyer, a professional man, somebody who was skilled in presenting the likes of these charges against Paul in a courtroom setting.
And then Paul was given, as we've read, the opportunity of defending himself.
He had the charges that all laid out.
Tertullus has spoken.
And now the governor nods to Paul, gives him the signal.
Now it's up to you.
And so Paul makes his confession.
But he doesn't confess any guilt to the charges that are laid against him.
He makes a confession of his faith.
He makes a confession that really has four very important elements to it, and they're all joined together.
A confession in which he comes, not to express any guilt at all, but to just set out his way of life.
It's a very personal confession.
It's a very personal presentation of his case.
The word I appears in it four times, but not in any way that's presumptuous or proud of himself.
And the four things he confesses that form what you might call the basis of this definition of a Christian life,
are themselves today important for you and for me and for all of us together.
First of all, he's saying, I confess, I worship.
I worship this God.
I worship the God of our fathers according to the way which they call a sect.
That's the first confession.
First part of the confession, I worship.
The second one is, I believe.
In fact, we'll see that the two are connected significantly.
I worship believing.
He says, I believe everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets.
Thirdly, I have a hope in God.
I'm a hoper.
I hope in God.
And I hope in relation to the resurrection of the dead.
That's where my hope reaches forward to.
And fourthly, I take pains.
We'll see that that means I strive.
I take pains.
I strive always to have a clear conscience towards both God and man.
Four elements all closely tied together, all forming a definition of a Christian life or a Christian way of life.
I worship.
Now, he says, according to the way.
I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship.
The way, as you find it here in the ESVs, is good because in this sense, at least, it gives you this word, the way, with a capital W.
Because that's what those who are observing the church of these early times, they called them the people of the way.
The way of following their leader.
The way of faith.
The way of faith in Christ.
The way of believing all of those things that Paul was going to mention that he believed in.
In other words, Paul is saying, I have a certain path to my life.
I have a certain way by which I follow my leader, my savior.
I worship according to the way.
I worship according to what's specified of that way of life, of that way of pleasing God, which he himself has specified in his word.
And that means that for Paul, life is not just about a loose collection of principles or things which you might regard as important points.
For Paul, the way means an affirmation of absolutes.
And for Paul, truth is not about something that's true today and then not tomorrow.
Truth is not something that may be suitable for today, but then you have to leave it and take up something else tomorrow.
No, as the world advances, as technology advances, as human thinking advances.
No, for Paul, the worship is a worship according to the way.
According to what God himself has specified and laid down and what his forefathers as Christians, as believers, have followed before him.
This, he says, is my confession to you.
This is what I'm happy to confess.
That I, according to the way which they call a sect, I worship God.
That's why we're here today.
Because we're following in the line of the apostle and those who are before him, all the way through the pages of history.
People who've worshipped the way, the way that God himself has specified.
People who have worshipped knowing that God is true to himself and what he says in the Bible regarding himself and his worthiness to be worshipped.
And the benefits we have of worshipping him.
Now, we're not going to go into any aspects of worship and what it entails as such.
But, just again to emphasize that our presence here is an important aspect of worship.
Because we worship physically as well as spiritually.
We come together physically.
We come together in such a way that really appreciates the gathering together that God enables us by his providence to engage in.
Yes, we have live stream.
We're very thankful to God for live stream.
It's a brilliant provision for those who simply cannot gather with others as we gather here today.
But remember, your physical presence is an aspect of your worship.
When you cannot be present physically, it doesn't mean you're not able to worship.
But when you are able to come physically together, you are expressing through your very body your appreciation of being together with other people as joined in worship of God.
This, he says, I confess to you that according to the way I worship.
And, of course, the worship is a fundamental mark of being a Christian, of being Christians, as we say, together.
A life of praise, of adoration, of prayer, of listening to God.
Of coming to appreciate the revelation that God has given us.
Of coming to know more of his will for us.
Of coming to actually appreciate the fact that God has remembered us, to give us the Bible.
We worship him according to the way.
I worship the God, he says, of our fathers.
And that worship dominates the whole of a Christian life.
There's a wonderful verse in Judges chapter 7, verse 15, which makes a very important emphasis for us.
Remember the story of Gideon.
And how Gideon had got down to the camp of the Midianites, their enemies at the time.
And he was listening to the interpretation of a dream that one of the Midianites had.
And as soon as the dream was about how the people of Israel under Gideon would actually prevail over the Midianites.
As soon as Gideon heard the interpretation, he worshipped.
He didn't just say, great, let's go to it.
He stopped, first of all, to worship.
As soon as he heard, he worshipped.
In other words, for us, that's a reminder that worship is appropriate at all times.
That worship is something that we engage in, even in the spur of a moment, when the situation calls for it.
As soon as he heard, he worshipped.
Is that my first thought?
When something clicks in my life, in the providence of God,
whether it's difficult or whether it's joyous,
is that my first reaction?
Is that my first thought?
I have to worship God.
I remember when some Koreans were visiting the island,
and were living with us,
partly living with us,
but especially came to visit us,
just as they arrived, having picked them up,
taking them back to the mansus was when we were in Garibust.
And there were four of them, I remember rightly.
And I took them into the sitting room.
I turned my back round,
and then I started saying how great it was to have them at last here.
And I turned round, and they weren't listening because they were worshipping.
They were giving thanks to God
that they had arrived there,
that they had come safely to their destination.
Is our first thought,
when we're going on holiday,
having asked for God's blessing to accompany us,
is our first thought when we get there
to worship God,
or do we just dive into the swimming pool or whatever?
As soon as Gideon heard,
he worshipped.
And here is Paul saying,
this is my confession to you,
that according to the way,
I worship the God of our fathers.
That's the other thing he mentions.
I worship the God of our fathers.
He's not worshipping a new God.
He's not worshipping in a new church.
God has only ever had the one church,
all the way through the history of the Old Testament
into the New Testament,
right up to the present day in Stornoway Free Church.
You belong to the church of the Apostle Paul.
The church that worships the God of our fathers.
What does he mean, the God of our fathers?
The God of promises.
The God of truth.
The God of revelation.
That's who we worship today.
And Paul would have recognized our worship
as a worship of the God he worshiped,
the same true and living God.
Now different, that is too,
to many of the ideas that you find currently
in people's minds,
in the church in the wider sense,
where you have to adjust the Bible
according to what you think is the needs of the age.
Whether it's to do with worship
or what you believe,
as we'll see in a minute.
He says,
I worship.
I worship according to the way,
according to God's revelation.
I worship the God of our fathers.
In other words, he's saying,
the God Abraham worshiped,
the God Noah worshiped,
the God Abel worshiped,
the God Noah worshiped.
That's the God I worship.
The God of covenant promises.
And they stretched down through the years
right to the present day.
And it will go on like that
till the end of the world.
The God of our fathers.
You today as a congregation
have a very rich heritage.
Not because you're a free church congregation
as such,
though that itself is precious.
But because you worship
the God of our fathers.
You have learned the importance
of covenant theology.
The importance of promises
given to God,
by God to his children
and their children after them.
I worship the God of our fathers.
So that's the first thing I worship.
But certainly, I believe.
I worship the God of our fathers,
believing everything laid down
by the law and written in the prophets.
In other words,
the Old Testament scriptures
as Paul had them,
that was the writings of the time.
Afterwards, through his own writings
and other apostles,
they came to be added to
so that you have a complete Bible
now in your possession
as the word of God written.
But he's saying,
I believe everything laid down
in the law and the prophets.
But you notice how it's believing
rather than just saying,
I believe.
I worship believing.
Now that's important, isn't it?
I worship believing.
My worship today
and you worship today
or worship together
is not just a man-made ritual.
That's not something
that's been invented by the church.
That's not something
that's come to us
without having
a proper foundation
in God himself.
I worship believing.
In other words,
your worship today
is a believing worship.
It's a worship
in which your mind is active.
In which your whole soul
is engaged.
A worship in which
your emotions should be stirred.
A worship in which
your conscience is engaged.
A worship in which
your will is engaged.
As to the serving of God.
As to what you should be
in this world
and I should be
as people in this life.
I worship believing.
Your love for God
is not a thoughtless love.
It's not a love
just based on something
you've read.
It's not a love
based on something
someone's told you.
It's not a love
just copying somebody else
who confesses to love the Lord.
It is a thinking love.
It's a love in which
your thoughts are engaged
when you're saying
I love the Lord.
Why?
Because
He has saved me.
Because He's worthy
of my worship.
Because He's God.
I worship
believing.
What did he say?
Believing
everything laid down
by the law
and written in the prophets.
See, Paul is not saying
I worship
believing the things
that seem appropriate
to me.
I worship
believing things
that I would have put
in my own terms
other than
what my fathers
in the Old Testament.
I worship,
He says,
believing everything
in the law
and written in the prophets.
Paul is not a cut
and paste Christian.
Paul doesn't come
to his Bible
as he had it
in those days
and say,
now which parts of that
are no longer relevant
for the age
that I'm living in?
Whether it's to do
with human relationships
or his relationship
to God
or the world
in which he lives
or the church
or what the church
is about,
none of that
as far as the apostle
is concerned
is of human invention
when he comes
to read the scriptures
and therefore I believe
he says,
everything.
You know,
the saddest thing
or one of the saddest thing
today is,
again speaking
of the widest church
in the wider sense,
and this is not
drawing any attention
to ourselves
as denomination
so that we can take pride
in what we are,
but looking at the church
in the wider sense,
when church leaders
deny fundamental truths
of the gospel,
it's one of the great
tragedies of our age.
When you find church leaders
saying,
actually,
Jesus didn't rise physically
from the dead,
that's just a way
in which the memory
of his teaching
was kept by the apostles
and handed on
to their successors.
Actually,
Paul wouldn't have written
about human relationships,
men and women's relationships,
if he was living today,
he wouldn't have put it
in the terms
in which he put it
in 1 Corinthians
or wherever.
Paul is not ultimately
the author
of his own letters,
not as Peter,
not as John,
not as Luke
can write in the book of Acts,
it's the Holy Spirit
who led these people,
as the Bible itself says,
who led these men
in order to bring to us
the message of the gospel
and God bringing it about
to be written
for our benefit.
And because it's God's word,
it doesn't lie.
And in the strictest sense,
the Bible doesn't need
to be made relevant.
Some people will tell you,
make the preaching
of the gospel relevant,
and yes,
I see the point in that.
But then say,
make the Bible relevant
to the age
in which you're preaching.
I don't need to make
the Bible relevant.
It's not my job.
The Bible is already relevant
because God has taken account
of every single generation
of human history
right down to the end
of the world,
and he said,
this word is relevant
to your needs.
That's what it means.
This word doesn't need
to be made relevant
by me or anybody else.
I seek to bring out
its relevance
to myself and to others.
The already existing
relevance of the Bible
to your circumstances today
and my circumstances,
to your needs as a congregation,
the relevance is there.
We need to seek
to bring it out
and understand it more fully.
Everything written,
everything laid down
by the law
and written in the prophets.
So the greatest temptation,
I think it's right to say,
of the church today
is a temptation
to see flaws in the Bible.
Flaws in what the Bible
tells you about
the history
of the Old Testament
or New Testament.
And the greatest temptation
to you as a Christian
and to me,
because of the importance
of the Word of God
and knowing
what this Bible
actually is.
And of course,
you always ask,
not what does the Bible say
as your first question,
but what is the Bible?
What is this book?
Before you ask,
what does it say to me?
You're saying,
who is its author?
Who's written it?
And because it's God's Word,
then you ask,
well, what is it saying to me?
What is God saying to me?
The greatest temptation
to you and to me
as Christians today
is the very temptation
with which the devil
came to Adam
and Eve
in the Garden of Eden.
What is it?
Has God really said?
Has God really said that?
Placing doubt in your mind
in regard to the reliability
or the veracity of God
and trying to deflect you
from the fact that
you are dealing with God's truth
when you're dealing
with the Scriptures.
I worship believingly.
I worship believing
all the things
that are written
in the prophets
and laid down by the law.
Thirdly,
I worship having a hope.
Having this hope in God
which these men themselves,
that's his opponents,
accept that there will be
a resurrection
of both the just
and the unjust,
that's what his hope
involves or entails.
It's a hope
connected to
the resurrection,
a resurrection
from the dead.
Now,
we haven't got time
to go into
that itself
as a topic,
but you remember
how he described
the Ephesians
in Ephesians chapter 2
when Paul wrote to them
and how he described
how they once were
before they came
to know Christ.
You where he says,
without God
and without hope
in the world.
Without God
and without hope.
You don't have God,
you don't have hope.
The world speaks about hope.
We might ourselves
speak about hope
and there is
a hope of a kind
that is really
no more than
wishful thinking.
You hope something
will work out,
but you can't guarantee
that it will work out
the way you hope
if you use hope
in that sense.
Those of you
at heart supporters
are hoping
they might win the league.
No guarantee of it.
Might yet be overtaken.
But that hope,
that kind of hope
exists
with that
and many other topics
as well
you can think of.
The Christian hope
is not
a hoping for the best,
wondering if it's
ever going to come about.
The Christian hope
is that positive hope,
that hope
that will never be put to shame,
that will never be denied.
The hope
that is connected
to the resurrection
of Christ
and therefore
to the resurrection
of his people
joined to him.
Having this hope
in God
that there will be
a resurrection
of both the just
and the unjust.
You see,
our hope
has to be based
on something
absolutely solid.
A foundation
that's not going
to change,
not going to move
as the events
of history
or the providence
of your life moves.
Your hope
has to be something
connected firmly
to an unchanging,
unchangeable foundation.
And the Christian hope
is that.
Because it's connected with,
it's based upon
the reality of Christ.
the reality of his death,
the reality of his resurrection
particularly.
And through faith in him,
you believe the Bible
when it tells you,
because of your connection
believingly to him,
everything
that God assures you
will take place yet
is in fact established already.
There will be a resurrection,
Paul says,
of the just
and the unjust.
And all the way
through Paul's writings
and did through
the whole New Testament,
you find that
as very central
to the preaching
of the apostles.
The doctrine
of the resurrection.
Now we make a lot
of the doctrine
of the death of Christ.
Of course we do.
Our salvation
is based upon that.
But not without
the resurrection
equally so.
if Jesus,
as Paul put it
in 1 Corinthians 15,
I remember going through
this with you
during the final part
of my time here
with you,
went through
1 Corinthians 15,
that wonderful
detailed
exposition
of the doctrine
of the resurrection.
Remember how Paul
put it there.
If
there is no
resurrection
of the dead,
then Christ
is not risen.
You discount
the whole idea
of resurrection,
therefore Christ
is still dead.
And if Christ
is not risen,
we have no hope.
If Christ
is not risen,
we are still,
he says,
in our sins.
Just awaiting
the judgment
of God.
But he says,
now that Christ
is risen
from the dead,
you have
a hope
of eternal life.
A positive
affirmation
and hope
that that will
be your portion
in eternity.
Is that your
hope today?
Don't tell me
you're here
just hoping
for the best
that somehow
things will
work out
all right.
That somehow
at the end
of your life
and as you
come from
this life
into eternity,
somehow,
maybe you don't
know how,
but somehow
things will
work out
positively for you.
that's not
hope.
That's not
hope.
That's just
wishing for
the best
and not
sure if it
will happen.
That's just
taking your
chances,
as the world
would put it.
That's not
the hope
of the gospel.
Your hope
is through
faith in
Christ,
based upon
him,
based on
his resurrection
and looking
forward to
being raised
with him
from the
dead.
Isn't that
your hope?
Isn't that
at the center
of your
Christian life
and thinking
today?
What Paul
is saying,
this is,
I worship
God,
I worship
believingly,
having this
hope in
God,
so I
always take
pains.
The fourth
thing,
I always
take pains
to have a
clear conscience
towards both
God and
man.
In other
words,
in his
definition of
a Christian
life,
Paul doesn't
leave out
his conscience.
Paul doesn't
say,
well,
I just
go about
doing my
best,
but I'm
not too
concerned
about it.
I'm not
too concerned
about what
my conscience
is saying.
I'm not
too concerned
about distinguishing
right from
wrong or being
too strict
about those
things.
No,
the language
Paul is
using here
actually,
it's interesting,
I always
take pains.
It's a
word connected
with the
strivings of
an athlete,
either in
training or
in the actual
race or
activity that
the athlete
is involved
with.
And Paul
frequently
actually took
some illustrations
from the
world of
athletics.
And he's
using this
word of
athletes in
their training
or in
their exercise
or running
as an
athlete.
This he
says is,
what I'm
like spiritually,
as surely
as an
athlete takes
pains,
strenuously
strives on
day by day
to improve
on their
performance.
That's how I
am as a
Christian.
I take
pains with
what?
With my
conscience.
And it's
not enough
for Paul
to say,
I take
pains in
regard to
my conscience
between
myself and
God.
That is
ultimately
the case
for him.
But he's
saying I
take pains
to have
a clear
conscience
toward
both
God
and
man.
He's
not
leaving
out
his
relationships
with his
fellow
human
beings.
It's
not enough
for him
to say,
I'm
persuaded
my
conscience
is clean
between
myself
and
God
irrespective
of how
I live
in relation
to other
people.
He said
I need
a clear
conscience
in all
my
relationships
with my
fellow
human
beings.
I need
to make
sure that
my
conscience
is
clean.
I need
to attend
to the
things that
I know
are still
wrong in
my life.
I need
to attend
to how
I speak
to people.
I need
to attend
to how
I react
to people,
how I
respond
to people
because I
need to
keep a
clear
conscience
between
God,
between
myself and
God and
myself and
man.
And we
need to
keep both
of these
in place.
Clear
conscience.
I
worship.
I
worship
believingly.
I have
a hope
connected
to
resurrection.
I
take
pains.
I
strive.
I
strive to
have a
clear
conscience
towards
both
God
and
man.
Now
every one
of us,
myself
included,
comes
very far
short
in each
and all
of these
four
concepts.
Our
worship is
never what
it should
be.
It's
never as
pure as
it should
be,
personally,
individually,
even
collectively.
our
believing is
never
without
some
doubt
or other
creeping
in,
not into
the
believing
itself,
but to
accompany
my
believing.
And
sometimes
we have
to come
and ask
God's
forgiveness
for our
slowness to
believe what
he says
in his
word.
And I
have a
hope.
It's not
a hope
that's
undisturbed
some of
the time.
So I
have
questions
and doubts
creeping in.
And I
keep a
clear
conscience.
I
strive.
But every
day I
need to
come to
God and
say,
Lord,
forgive me.
I have
not striven
the way I
should to
keep my
conscience
clean today.
But you
know what?
Your
worship,
your
believing,
your
hope,
you're
taking
pains.
All the
things that
you confess
are still
wrong are
all to be
brought under
the provision
of Jesus
Christ.
Because God
will accept
you with
all your
faults and
mine when
Christ is
your covering,
when Christ
is your
Savior,
when God
sees you
through
Christ
himself,
related to
him,
so you
stand
before
him,
judicially
as if
you've
never
sinned,
and
actually
in a
way that
still goes
on being
sanctified,
till you
come to
be glorified.
Worship,
believing,
having a
hope,
and taking
pains with
your conscience.
May God
bless these
thoughts on
his word
to us
today.
We're
going to
sing in
conclusion
now from
Psalm 62,
Psalm
number 62
in the
Scottish
Psalter,
to the
tune Amazing
Grace,
verses 5
to 8.
Psalm 62
verses 5
to 8
of Psalm
62,
my soul
wait thou
with
patience.
my soul
wait thou
with
patience
upon
thy God
alone
On Him dependeth all my hope and expectation.
He only my salvation is, and my strong rock is He.
He only is my sure defense, I shall not live at He.
In God my glory place it is, and my salvation sure.
In God the rock is of my strength, my refuge most secure.
Ye people, place your confidence in Him continually.
Before Him pour, be out your heart.
God is our refuge high.
Please allow me to get to the main door after the benediction.
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.
Amen.
Thank you.