'Some Believed ... And Some Believed Not'

And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. - Acts 28:21-24

    Wherever Paul went, he had only one errand. He was a gospel preacher, a messenger, an ambassador sent from God with a mess age to deliver to sinners heading for eternity. Being 'separated unto the gospel' (Rom. 1:1), he allowed nothing to turn him aside from his great work, not even imprisonment! He was sent by God to deliver the message of redemption and grace in Christ to perishing souls. He considered nothing to be of equal importance to that. Being God's messenger, his message was always the same. His subject, his theme, never changed. He was determined to know nothing among men except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). He considered it his solemn duty, whenever and wherever he preached, to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 9:16). He was a man of one subject. He was radically, fanatically committed to that one subject. He preached Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 1:23). Whatever ability he possessed, whenever he had opportunity, this great exemplary preacher expounded to men and women the doctrine of the cross (Gal. 6:14). In the passage before us, Luke gives us an example both of the great apostle's message and his method of preaching.

    1. Paul preached expositively

    'He expounded …both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets.' All true preaching involves the faithful exposition of Holy Scripture. Preaching is not the exposition of a creed or confession of faith. That is denominational indoctrination. Preaching is declaring with simplicity and clarity what is written in Holy Scripture. 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God' (Rom. 10:17). It is not possible for anyone to trust the Lord Jesus Christ until he is taught by God. And the method by which God teaches chosen sinners is the preaching of the gospel (1 Cor. 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23-25). It is the responsibility of those who preach the gospel to unfold the wondrous mysteries of the gospel, faithfully expounding the message of the Bible. Many preachers and teachers like to dazzle their hearers with their knowledge and understanding of facts and times and their ability to answer foolish questions and unravel the knots of endless genealogies. God's servants studiously avoid getting caught up in that snare of the devil (2 Tim. 2:23; Titus 3:9). Those men who are faithful to God, faithful to the souls of men and faithful to the Word of God expound the message of Scripture. Essentially, the message of the Bible is threefold.

    The first message of the Bible is a message of ruin, the total spiritual ruin of our race by the sin and fall of our father Adam (Rom. 5:12). What happened in the garden? Let a man find the answer to that question and he will have little difficulty understanding any thing else in the Bible. Adam was much more than the progenitor of our race. He was, by God's decree, the federal head and representative of all men. God made Adam in his own image, holy and righteous, and gave him dominion over all the works of his hands. Adam and his children might have lived for ever in that happy condition, had he simply lived in the acknowledgement of God's righteous dominion over him. God gave Adam everything except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:15-17). That one tree stood as a constant reminder to Adam of God's rightful, sovereign dominion.

    You know what happened. Adam did not stand in his upright ness. In time his heart swelled with pride. He could not stand the thought of God being God. Because of his pride, he stole the fruit of God's tree. By that act, Adam attempted to usurp God's authority and dominion as God. Immediately he died spiritually, came under the curse of legal death, began to die physically and became liable to eternal death in hell, and so did we! When Adam sinned, we sinned in him. When he died, we died. Now we all bear the image of our father Adam. All the sons of Adam are born sinners, rebels against God, going astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies (Ps. 51:5; 58:3; Rom. 3:9-19; 8:7; Eph. 2:1-3). This is the doctrine of total depravity. It simply means man is so sinful and so completely helpless in spiritual death that he is incapable of changing his condition, or even assisting in the change of his condition before God (Jer. 13:23; 17:9). As A. H. Strong said, 'Man is a double-dyed villain. He is originally corrupted by nature and afterwards by practice.'

    The second message of the Bible is a message of redemption, redemption by the precious blood of Christ, the second Adam (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18-20; 2:24). Thank God there is a second Adam, another representative man, another substitute! In exactly the same way that all men were made sinners by Adam's disobedience, all God's elect are made righteous by Christ's obedience unto death as their substitute (Rom. 5:17-21; 1Cor. 15:21-22). By his obedience to the law as our representative, Christ brought in perfect righteousness, which is imputed to all who trust him. By that righteousness, we are completely justified in God's sight (Jer. 23:6; Rom. 3:28-31; 4:21-25). Our works have nothing to do with our righteousness. We are justified by his work being imputed to us. By pouring out his life's blood unto death, our Saviour made a complete atonement for sin, satisfying the justice of God for all who believe on him (Rom. 3:24-26). Now God freely forgives all who trust his Son, justly removing from us both the guilt of sin and the curse of the law (John 3:14-18; Rom. 8:1,33-34).

    The third message of the Bible is a message of regeneration, regeneration by the irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-8; Eph. 2:1-4). This is the new birth. It is not something God offers; it is something God does. Eternal life is the gift of God. The fruit and result of the new birth, this gift of life, is faith in Christ. In order for dead sinners to live, they must be given life. And when God creates life in us, he also creates faith in us (Eph. 2:8-9; Col. 2:12).

    2. Paul also preached experimentally

    As he expounded the message of Holy Scripture, he 'testified the kingdom of God'. He told his hearers how he had experienced the transforming power and grace of God on the Damascus road. He told his conversion experience so often that I imagine Luke and anyone else who frequently heard him preach knew it as well as he did (9:1-22; 22: 1-16; 26:9-19). He never tired of telling what God had done for him. Grace experienced in the heart is a tale worth telling and worth hearing. Someone once said, 'No man can really preach anything until he has experienced it.' And the man who has experienced grace will preach it.

    3. This expository, experimental preaching was persuasive

    When Paul preached, he was 'persuading them concerning Jesus'. He pressed upon his hearers the claims of Christ in the gospel, urging them to trust him as Saviour and Lord (2 Cor. 5:11).

    'And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.' That is always the result of gospel preaching (2 Cor. 2:14-16). Three things need to be understood from this fact:

    1. The salvation of sinners is not determined by the gifts, abilities or power of the preacher. Those who believed heard the same preacher as those who did not believe.

    2. Those who believe the gospel do so because God, who willed it from eternity, gives them faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith is not the work of man's free will, but the gift of God's sovereign grace (John 1:12-13; 3:8; Rom. 9:16-18; Eph. 1:19, 2:8; Col. 2:12).

    3. Those who do not believe do not do so because they will not come to Christ and be saved by free grace alone through the merits of his blood and righteousness (John 5:40). If any sinner is saved, it is God's action and the result of God's work alone. If any sinner is damned, it is his fault and the result of his work alone. No one is saved because of what he or she does, and no one is lost because of what God does. Salvation is God's work. Destruction is man's work.