Open your Bibles if you would
to the book of Acts. Chapter 25 is where we start. The name of the message is six
effects of true preaching. Six effects of true preaching. And before we look at our text,
We're going to read several sections of scripture, and let's begin
in the book of Acts, chapter 25, where we'll be reading verses
13 to 27, first of all. And here we see Paul being bought
before King Agrippa and Bernice. And the Jews were not happy at
all, but the way Felix had handled Paul. So shortly after Festus
took the governor's seat of Caesarea, they tried to get him to bring
Paul to Jerusalem for trial. They wanted Paul dead. The Jews
wanted Paul dead. And let us remember that Festus
is a pagan Roman governor. So when Agrippa, who was reported
to be a specialist in Jewish matters, was in the area, came to Caesarea,
Festus welcomed the opportunity to discuss Paul's case with him.
And Agrippa expressed a desire to hear Paul himself. And this,
King Agrippa, was the son of Herod Agrippa, who killed James,
the brother of John, and of whose death is made mention of in Acts
chapter 12, verse 1. So let's look at verse 13, and
we'll read to the end of this chapter, and then we'll pick
up right off in chapter 26. We're gonna read a large portion
of scripture tonight, but this will give us the setting of the
text that we're gonna look at. And after certain days, King
Agrippa and Bernice came on to Caesarea to salute Festus. And
when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's
cause unto the king, saying, there is a certain man left in
bonds by Felix. Again, Festus is the new governor,
and Felix was the past governor. About whom, when I was in Jerusalem,
the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring
to have judgment against him. To whom I answered, it is not
the manner of Romans to deliver any man to die. Before that,
he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have
license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against
him. Therefore, when they came hither without delay on the moral,
I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be bought
forth. Against whom the accusers stood up, and they bought non-accusations
of such things as I suppose." So Festus knew something was
up here, something was not right. But had certain questions against
him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus which was dead,
whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Well the Jews said Jesus died,
was dead, and Paul said Jesus was alive. And because I doubted
of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would
go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters. But
when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of
Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him
to Caesar. Then Agrippa said unto Phestus,
I would also hear of the man myself. Tomorrow, said he, thou
shalt hear him. And on the morrow, when Agrippa
was come, and Bernice with great pomp, and was entered into the
palace of hearing, with the chief captains and principal men of
the city at Festus' command, meant Paul was bought forth.
And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present
with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the
Jews have dealt with me. Now remember, Paul used to be
one of them. He was one of the who's who of
the Jewish religion. Now they all want to kill him.
They want him dead. They want him dead. and all the men which are present
with us, you see this man about whom all the multitude of the
Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem and also here, crying
that he ought not to live any longer." They wanted him dead,
as I said. But when I found that he had
committed nothing worthy of death and that he himself had appealed
to Augustus, he bought that forth that he was a Roman citizen and
he had that right to appeal to Caesar, I have determined to
send him. of whom I have no certain thing
to write unto my Lord, wherefore I have brought him forth before
you, and especially before thee, O King of Grippa, that after
examination had I might have something somewhat to write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable
to send a prisoner and not will withal to signify the crimes
laid against him." So again, Agrippa was an expert, supposedly
an expert in the Jewish law, and so he wanted his opinion. Now let's look at Paul's defense
before Agrippa, which begins in Acts chapter 26. This is wonderful. Then Agrippa said unto Paul,
thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched
forth the hand and answered for himself. I think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before
thee, touching all the things where I am accused of, of the
Jews, especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs
and questions which are among the Jews, therefore I beseech
thee to hear me patiently. My manner of life, now he's gonna
give him a review of his life. My manner of life from my youth
was at the first among my own nation at Jerusalem, know all
the Jews, which knew me from the beginning, if they would
testify that after the most strictest sect of our religion, I lived
a Pharisee. Now I stand and am judged for
the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Unto
which promise are 12 tribes instantly serving God day and night hope
to come? For which hope's sake, King Agrippa,
I am accused of the Jews? Why should it be thought a thing
incredible with you that God should raise the dead? I verily
thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem,
and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received
authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them. And I punished them off in every
synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme, and being exceedingly
mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities."
So God in his providence, before Paul was saved, had Paul going
about and persecuting believers. And they were being scattered
all about. And it was all part of God's purpose and plan. The
gospel, don't forget too, the gospel's moving forth. While
these people are being scattered, the gospel's just spreading like
wildfire, beloved. It's just spreading like wildfire. And I punished them often, every
synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme, and being exceedingly
mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
Now, in the next portion, Paul will tell Agrippa and those who
were also there of his conversion, and his being sent forth to the
Gentiles, all the way up to his death, being plotted by the Jews. Look at verse 12. Whereupon,
as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief
priests, so he went off to slaughter more Christians with the authority
of the chief priests to do this, to do this. See, it costs to
be a Christian. It costs dearly. Sometimes it
costs them their lives. At midday, O King, I saw on the
way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining
round about me, and then which journeyed with me. And when we
were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto
me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Now remember, this is one of
the most vital portions right there, those little words there,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me, shows the vital, vital union
between Christ and his church. Because who was Paul persecuting?
He was persecuting believers. Remember? And Christ is the vine,
he's the head, and we're the branches, we're the body. Brother
Matt, we've talked about this before, and you brought out how
on the medical field with the nerves and everything all through
the body, that as soon as a finger touches something that's hot
or cold, instantly a signal goes right to the head. Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? He's persecuting Christians,
but he's really persecuting Christ. He's really persecuting Christ.
Is it hard for thee to kick against the pricks? And I said, who art
thou, Lord? And look at that, he called him
Lord. And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise
and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, both
of those things which thou hast seen and of those things in which
I will appear unto thee. So here's Paul. He's going about
slaughtering and killing Christians or having them thrown into jail.
with no idea that he's persecuting Christ himself, with no idea
that it is appointed of God that he will be the apostle to the
Gentiles. And here we see in verse 16,
but rise and stand for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.
See, God had a purpose in Paul's life. Paul didn't know it, did
he? He had no idea until right then.
God had a purpose for his life. To make thee a minister and a
witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those
things in which I will appear unto thee. Delivering thee from
the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. Look
at this. Here's our text in verse 18.
We're going to read to the end of the chapter. Look at this.
To open their eyes. and to turn them from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they
may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in me." Oh my. Right there in that verse is
six effects of gospel preaching. Right there. Right there before
us. Let's read a little bit more though. Whereupon O King of Grepi
was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first
unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all
the coast of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should
repent, and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
So Paul, everywhere he went, he preached the gospel. And he
preached it to everyone. He didn't know who the elect
are. He just proclaiming the gospel, isn't he? Because God
knows his people, but Paul don't, so he's just gonna preach the
gospel. He's just gonna let it go. And God does the saving. God does the saving. For these
causes, the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to
kill me. So there it is. They want to kill him just because
of his faith, because he's preaching Christ. Having therefore obtained
help of God, I continue on to this day. There's something for
us to underline. Obtained help of God. Every believer's
obtained help of God. Every believer. And we can look
back on our life and see that, can't we? We can see that. I
continue unto this day, witnessing both the small and great, saying
none other things than those which the prophets and Moses
did say should come, that Christ should suffer, and that he should
be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show
light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And as he thus
spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou
art beside thyself. Much learning doth make thee
mad. He said, you're nuts. Oh, Paul's not. Paul's in his
right mind, isn't he? He's in his right mind. But that's
what they say about believers. The world thinks we're crazy. But he said, I am not mad, most
noble Festus. See, he didn't look at that,
too. Even he he he didn't disrespect him as a leader. He said, most
noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
For the king knoweth of these things before whom Also, I speak
freely, for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden
from him, for this thing was not done in a corner. The crucifixion
of Christ was very public, very public. King Agrippa, believest
thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then
Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadedst me to be a Christian.
Oh, my. And Paul said, I would to God
that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day. We're
both almost. And altogether, such as I am,
except these bonds. So his hope is that the Lord
would save them. And when he had thus spoken, the king rose
up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them.
And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves,
saying, this man doth nothing worthy of death, or of bonds.
Then said Agrippus Defestus, this man might have set at liberty
if he had not appealed unto Caesar. Now look at that. They are not
gonna hand him over to the Jews. which is a fulfillment of declaration
of verse 17, delivering thee from the people and from the
Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. God's protecting him. He's watching over him. Now,
beloved of God, the preaching of Christ and him crucified is
the strength of the preacher. Without Christ, the preacher
would be like a soldier without his weapon. He'd be like a soldier
without his weapon. They'd be like an artist without
a pencil. They'd be like a pilot without a compass or a carpenter
without his tools. Preaching Christ is vital. It's
what the preacher must do. Now note when Paul stood here
before King Agrippa, he plainly and clearly declared unto him
the experience of God's grace in his soul. Very clearly and
very plainly we saw that. He took him to what he was before. We look in verse five, he said,
after the most strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
So he took him to what he was before. Paul at that time had
religion, but did not know God. He had religion, but did not
know God. And he hated the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then look what he proclaims in verse nine. I truly thought with
myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of
Jesus Christ. All the things that people do
in the name of Christ and that have been done all through history
in the name of Christ and yet not being believers. Paul's conversion to the Lord
Jesus Christ was a miracle of God's sovereign grace and sovereign
mercy. And this is a miracle that only
God can perform. And he performs it on every believer.
Every believer, I believe, is a miracle of God's grace. Every
single believer. Because we're born again by his
spirit. We're saved by his grace. And it's his work, beloved. It's
nothing we do. And this is a miracle that only
God can perform. And Paul will bring this forth
as he will now tell King Agrippa of how the Lord Jesus Christ
confronted him. And we saw that in the text and
conquered him while he was on the road to Damascus. Paul had
one thing in mind and the Lord turned him right around, didn't
he? Oh my. He was on the road to persecute
believers in the very city that he is to meet by God's decree,
the one he is persecuting. And as a result of persecuting
the body of Christ, he's the head, and his people are the
body. It says that midday in verse
13, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven above the
brightness of the sun shining round about me, and them which
journey with me. And when we were all fallen to
the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me in the Hebrew tongue,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Is it hard for thee to kick
against the bricks? And I said, who art thou, Lord?
And he said, I am Jesus, who now persecutes. That portion of scripture there
is just incredible. What a union between Christ and
his body, his people. And then Paul declared before
Agrippa the purpose God had in raising him up. Look at verse
16. Taking him out of religion and
teaching him the gospel of God's sovereign grace. But rise and
stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.
to make thee a minister, and a witness both of these things
which thou hast seen, and those things in which I will appear
unto thee." God makes his preachers. He calls his preachers. He equips
his preachers, and he sends his preachers. And the Lord Jesus Christ here
had appeared unto Paul with a divine purpose, to make Paul a minister,
a witness, both of those things which he had seen and would yet
seen as they were divinely revealed to him. He also told Paul that
it was he, the Lord Jesus Christ, again, who would send him to
preach his gospel first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.
Look at verse 17. Delivering thee from the people,
and from the Gentiles, and to whom now I send thee. So the
Lord's telling Paul, I'm sending you to the Gentiles. Well, praise
God, we're all Gentiles here, aren't we? Praise God, the Lord
sent Paul to the Gentiles. Paul was being warned that the
ungodly Jews and Gentiles would oppose him, they'd seek to kill
him just for preaching the gospel, and would manifest veminate hatred
toward Christ and towards his gospel, but beloved, Paul was
assured from God himself that he would be delivered from them.
We see that in verse 17, unto whom now I send thee, delivering
thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I
send thee. And we see all through the book
of Acts that occurring, don't we? We see that. And we know from studying the
scriptures that God has ordained salvation, the salvation of his
elect, And let us never forget that he's also ordained the means
to call them out. He's also ordained the means
to call them out. We looked at that on Sunday.
For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by how? The foolishness of preaching.
The foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 1
Corinthians 1, verse 21. God, by the foolishness of preaching,
It pleased him by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Now we are not to exalt the messenger,
not at all. But I would exalt the means and
make much the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
in him alone. That's who we're supposed to
exalt, is Christ. And he does use means, beloved.
He uses the preaching of the gospel. Turn, if you would, to
Romans chapter 10. Let us always remember that Paul
and any other man sent to preach the gospel are only earthen vessels,
are only clay vessels. God uses the word preached by
sinful creatures to the salvation of his sheep. Look at Romans
chapter 10. And then we'll go back to Acts chapter
26 and we'll break down verse 18. Romans chapter 10 verses
14 17. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? This is all about preaching the
gospel. And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is
written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they
have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. With that in mind, let's go back
to Acts chapter 26, and we're key on verse 18. And so Paul
here brings forth before King Agrippa the effects, six effects
here, of true preaching. of the true gospel being preached
to the elect of God. Take note in in verse 18 here
to open their eyes. And remember, Paul sent by God
to proclaim Christ. And here's here's again, six
effects to open their eyes. And to turn them from darkness
to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins. and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in me." Right here before us we have
a very plain description of the work of grace in the believer
through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And let us take note again of six effects, six things in this
verse tonight Number one, God opens the spiritual eyes of his
people. Number two, God turns his people
from darkness to light. Number three, God delivers us
from the power of Satan unto Jesus Christ our Lord. Number
four, God grants us forgiveness of sins in and through Christ
alone. Number five, God gives us eternal
and rich inheritance in Christ. And number six, God gives us
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's read this
verse again. We're gonna be reading it several
times. Verse 18, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness
to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in me. Now remember, this
is the Lord speaking to Paul, and he's telling them what's
gonna happen when you go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles. The first effect of the true
gospel being preached then is that God opens the blind eye. He opens the blind eye. All men by birth, all men by
nature, are blind to the truth. Blind to the truth. All of us,
men and women, we're all blind to the truth. We're blind to
who God really is by nature, by birth, We're blind to who
the blessed Redeemer is. We have no idea who the Lord
Jesus Christ is. And those spoken of in our text
here, by birth and by nature, have the eyes of their understanding
shut, darkened, and they are blind to the things of God. in
the things of Christ. And we know, we know from scripture
that we're born dead in trespasses and sins. We know that from Ephesians
chapter two. Turn, if you would, to James
chapter one. We're born dead in trespasses and sin, and God
must command that spiritual sight be given so that we can see the
truth as it is revealed in the word. Again, in our text, to
open their eyes. That then tells us that our eyes
by birth are closed. We don't know Christ. We can't
see him. We don't know who he is. Look
at this in James chapter one, look at this. Of his own will,
verse 18, begot he us with a word of truth, that we should be a
kind of first fruits of his creatures. Those spoken of here have been
given spiritual eyes to behold Christ. who is the only able, complete,
and suitable Savior for those who are spiritually blind. Now the believer have their eyes
open to who God is, to who Christ is. They see Him as a perfect, complete Savior. And we see that through the preaching
of the Word, don't we? We see that through the preaching
of the Gospel. And one minute our eyes are closed,
and the next minute we see Him. It's marvelous. It's absolutely
marvelous. We see that He is our perfect
righteousness. We see the fact that we cannot
stand in God's presence without Christ, without His perfect righteousness. We see that all of God's grace
It flows to the believer in and through Christ and Christ alone.
We've had our eyes opened. The second effect of the true
gospel being preached is, no, God turns us from darkness unto
light. Let's read our text again. To
open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light. Again, we are blind by nature. And by nature, scripture declares
we love darkness rather than light because our deeds are evil. We're sinners. We're sinners. So this darkness then speaks
of the darkness of our nature by birth. The darkness of our
sin. The ignorance, the darkness of
ignorance and unbelief. And this is the state of which
all men are born. Darkness. Darkness. Who are in the dark? Every son of Adam. Every daughter of Adam. Every
single human being comes into this world in darkness. In darkness. Ignorant of who
God is. Ignorant of his perfections.
And we're even ignorant about our sin, aren't we? I remember
before the Lord saved me, I used to think I was okay. I thought
my good would outweigh my bad. I was ignorant. I was ignorant
of how bad sin really is. I was in darkness. in utter darkness. And then I got into religion and I thought that I could gain
merit and favor with God by what I do. I was still in darkness. One day, one day by God's grace,
He took me from darkness to light. Is it so with you? Oh my. These spoken of in our text here
though are ignorant of the gospel even of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of who He is. And that salvation is in Him
alone. That's where I was at. Was it so for you? In darkness. In darkness to the
way of peace with God, which is through Christ. In darkness
to the righteousness that was needed to stand in God's presence.
In darkness. I had no clue. I know it's so
for you too. My, one day, he took us from
darkness to light, didn't he? Let's read the 2nd Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians, chapter four. And those spoken of in darkness
here, too, are ignorant about the work of the Spirit, too,
in regeneration. The Lord Jesus said, you must
be born again. And Nicodemus said, well, how can I go into
my mother's womb again? That's how we were by nature. That's
a natural man's answer right there. That's a natural man's
answer. And that's where I was. This
is the state that we are in by birth, and then God sends a gospel
preacher. Oh my. To us to proclaim the
gospel of God's free grace in Christ, and through the word
being preached, this is wonderful, through the word being preached,
God commands the light to shine in us, which turns us from self
to Christ, beloved. Turns us from self to Christ.
Look at this in 2 Corinthians chapter four, we read verses
Three to six. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. That's our natural state, right
there. Right there. And whom the God
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God, here it is, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, that ties right in with what
the Lord told Paul. To open their eyes and to turn
them from darkness to light. All through the preaching of
the gospel. And it's God who does this, know that it's God.
For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
shined in our hearts to give the light and knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. For every believer, God
has commanded the light to shine on the darkness. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful, beloved.
Oh my. Now, keep your finger right there
because chapter 4 here ties in with the
third effect of the true gospel being preached. I'll read Acts,
stay right there though in 2 Corinthians, and I'll read Acts. 26, 18, again,
to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan unto God. Look at verse 4 in 2 Corinthians,
chapter 4, 4. And whom the God of this world
hath blinded, the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. Now let's go back to our text
with that in mind, Acts 26, 18. To open their eyes, so they were
once spiritually blind, to turn them from darkness to light,
they've been taken from darkness to light. Look at this, and from
the power of Satan unto God. We saw that in verse four, 2
Corinthians 4, 4. In whom the gods of this world
have blinded their minds of them which believe not. That's where
we were. That's where we were. Those who
hear and believe the one true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified and the fact that He rose from the grave.
We were once spiritually blind. We were once spiritually deaf.
We were once dead in trespasses and sins. We were held by the
power of darkness and by the power of Satan. We were without
Christ. We were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
from the covenant of promise and we had no hope. We had no
hope, and we were without God in the world. But praise be to
God by His almighty power, beloved. He has commanded the light to
shine in the darkness, and shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God did this, and He does it
for every single believer. We're born again of the Holy
Spirit The fourth effect of the gospel,
let's go back to Acts 26.18, the fourth effect of the true
gospel being preached according to our text is that God grants
to us the forgiveness of sins, all according, we know, to the
riches of His grace in and through Christ Jesus alone. Look at this. To open their eyes, as if it
already hasn't been miraculous what's being said here, it gets
even better. gets even better, to open their
eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God, that they may receive, it doesn't say that
they may earn, does it? When I give you something, you're
just receiving it, aren't you? When you give me something, I'm
just receiving it. I didn't ask for it, it's a gift. If you give
me a gift or I give you a gift, I'm just handing it to you. That
they may receive, we're just receivers, we're mercy beggars,
beloved. We're mercy beggars. That they may receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me. And again, it's Christ speaking
here. We receive that which we do not deserve. The forgiveness
of sins. And not just one, not just two, because then it
wouldn't be a complete forgiveness, right? But I proclaim to you
here that the believer has the forgiveness of sins, past, present,
and future. You may, again, you've heard
me say this, you may run into someone who says, how can you say all
your future sins are forgiven? Well, I can say that because
every one of my sins, and every one of your sins, and every one
of the sins of God's elect, even who are dead and trespasses the
sins right now, but who will be regenerated, every one of
our sins was forgiven, was bought and paid for 2,000 years ago. And either Christ paid for all
our sins, or he didn't pay for one. Praise be to God, he paid
for them all, beloved. He paid for every single one
of them. Every single one of them. Now think upon this. This is an act of God's free
grace. Right here before us. That they
may receive, again they can't earn it, forgiveness of sins. This is an act of God's pure
and sovereign free grace. And it comes to us who believe
through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave
his life to pay for all of our sins. All. He purchased, beloved, our forgiveness. When he was hung on that cross,
he was the lamb of God. our great substitute, dying before
the law and justice of God, the believer says, for my sin. Not just for one, but for all
the sins I would ever commit in my life. And we marvel at
that, don't we? We marvel that we have received
such mercy in grace We who are undeserving sinners. And this is what is published
in the gospel, that whosoever believes in Christ will receive
forgiveness of sins. By faith they trust and rest
in Christ alone. Ephesians 1, verse 7 says this,
in whom we have redemption. We have it, beloved. We have
redemption. Through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins. And then. It says, according
to the riches of his grace, what a gift. And he's given it to
you. He's just given it to you because
it pleased him to do so. My. Turn, if you would, to Matthew,
chapter 26. Our Master, when He was having
the Last Supper, He proclaimed these words. Again, I'll read
Ephesians 1-7. Look what our Master says. He's having the Last Supper, and look
what He proclaims. For this is the blood of the
New Testament, verse 28, which is shed for many for the remission
of sins. Matthew 26, 28. For this is my blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Now, remember, he's absolutely
sinless. And he is proclaiming right there
that he is the Lamb of God. He is the one who will shed his
blood. So that we who are the ones that that got the Lord told
Paul. Right. Now and now we read Paul
and and and don't forget the Lord all through the ages have
been saving his people. And he sent Paul to the Gentiles
were Gentiles. It makes us thankful that God
sent him there, send them to the Gentiles, because we've heard
the gospel. We've heard the gospel, but it's
wonderful. But how are our sins forgiven? For this is my blood
of the New Testament, which is shed for many, not for all, but
for me. What? Why? For the remission
of sins to pay for my sins. And if you're a believer to pay
for your sins, every single one of them. Everyone. to open their eyes, and to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto
God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins. Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior. Those who are
born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, we've been shown
our need for Christ, and we believe the gospel, don't we? We believe
the gospel, and then we become desirous of Christ. We become
desirous of the one we never desired before. And all we want
to hear is about Christ. Oh my, we want to hear about
the things of Christ. And then we plead for mercy when
we never used to plead for mercy. It's wonderful. We say, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. Even years after we're saved,
we still cry, Lord, be merciful to me, I'm such a sinner. I cry
it out all the time, do you? Oh Lord, forgive me. I know I'm saved, I know I'm
redeemed, but I still cry out to Him. Oh, my. Oh, we plead for mercy, don't we?
And it says here that we've received forgiveness. Forgiveness of our
sins. Just remember this, beloved.
All our sins were bought and paid for 2,000 years ago. Oh, it's wonderful. It is finished. Again, it doesn't give us a license
to go out and go crazy, no. The love of Christ constrains
us, doesn't it? But we're still sinners though, aren't we? You
don't have to tell me I'm a sinner, I already know it. But I'm a
saved sinner, praise God. I was talking to somebody not
long ago, and we were talking, and it was one of these religious
guys who thinks that they're just perfect, pretty much. And
I said, well, I'm a saved mess. And they kind of looked at me
like, what in the world are you talking about? I said, well,
I'm still a sinner, but I'm saved. I'm redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb. And I am complete in Christ,
hallelujah. They look at you like, what are
you talking about? Remember Joe Terrell said something, and I
read it. He said that for the believer
to come to the knowledge of the truth of our salvation is not
dependent upon what we do. It's not affected by our sinfulness.
We're saved, we're redeemed, and you'd never be lost. Now
again, Joe says, you tell someone that, and they right away take
it to the antinomian level. No, we're not saying that. We don't believe you can just
go crazy. But praise God, my salvation is wholly dependent
upon Christ as yours. What rest, what comfort this
brings the believer. We still cry out for mercy, don't
we? Like I said, when we grieve over
our sin. But we didn't before. When we
were dead, when we were blind, When we were in darkness, we
never went to Christ. But now, He's the only one we
run to. And notice this, they received
the gift. They received this. It's the forgiveness of sins.
It's not purchased with money. It's not secured by your merit
or my merit. It's a free gift of God. It's
a free gift of God. It's received by the hand of
faith. And the consequences of receiving that are what? Joy,
peace, and comfort. Joy, peace, and comfort. Now,
we have times where we're up and down? Absolutely. Absolutely. Sometimes we're on the mountaintop,
and other times we're down in the valley, aren't we? But we
have that constant peace that we have with God. peace with
God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and the joy in our heart
that no one can take away and circumstances can't take away.
Now we get sorrowful, we do, we get down, we cry, we get,
but we have a joy and a peace and a comfort that the world
does not know, that the world does not know and what a hope
we have. What a hope we have. We're going to see our savior.
I know my redeemer. I know he does. I'm going to
see him. I'm going to see him. The fifth effect of the gospel,
the true gospel being preached. This is a quick one here is in
our text is that God gives unto us an eternal and rich inheritance. Look at this to open their eyes
and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of
Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins.
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that
is in me. Turn, if you would, quickly to
1 Peter 1, and we'll look at three verses here. This ties
right in with the study that we've been having in Sunday School
of 1 Peter, where Peter writes to the suffering saints, and
look what he writes to them in verses three to five. And I'll
read our text again. To open their eyes and to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto
God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance. And
inheritance, look at what Peter writes here in verses three to
five of chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy,
and oh, we've tasted that mercy, haven't we, beloved? We've tasted
that the Lord is gracious, we've tasted that. His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope, we're born again. And we
have, what a hope there. The hope is called the lively
hope. You know why it's called the lively hope? Because it's a living
hope. And you know who the living hope is? Christ. It's not a dead
hope. When we were in religion, we
had no hope, really. We were hoping in ourselves.
But this is a living hope. And the living hope is the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him alone. We are begotten us again unto
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
So when Christ rose, God is satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ.
What a hope we have. If God is satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ, then we're safe in Christ, beloved. We're
safe in him. To an inheritance, here we go,
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. And then he just puts the icing
on the cake, who are kept by the power of God. We can't keep
ourselves, but we're kept by the power of God below us. Through
faith and the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Now notice this, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. We can receive
an inheritance on this earth and we can squander it, can't
we? We have a picture of that in the prodigal son. He received
his inheritance and he squandered it. But note that this inheritance,
that we have in Christ is incorruptible. It's in a place where nothing
can touch it, beloved. Nothing, no elements of this
world can touch this inheritance. Do you know why? Because it's
in Christ. It's in Christ. It's incorruptible.
It's undefiled. He's the perfect spotless lamb
of God. And it will never fade away. And here's the kicker. It's reserved
for you in heaven. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. My, and it's reserved for you. It's reserved for you. This is
wonderful. What wonderful news. And then
again, we go through trials and tribulations in this life. I
love this verse five, I gotta read it again. Who are kept by
the power of God. Oh, there's sometimes we just
put our heads down, don't we, and we just, we're overwhelmed.
We're kept by the power of God. We're kept by the power of God.
Here, keep us, no matter what. Through faith unto salvation.
And who's our salvation? Christ. Who's the object of our
faith? Christ. We just keep looking to Him.
We just keep looking to Him. Now the last, and the sixth and
last effect of the true gospel being preached according to our
text is that God gives us faith to receive Jesus Christ. Let's
read Acts 26 to 18 again. To open their eyes and to turn
them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto
God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. So contrary to popular belief
in religion, faith is not the sinner's gift to God. It's horrible what people think.
It's absolutely horrible. No sinner has faith until God
grants it. Before we are saved, we are spiritually
bankrupt. Spiritually bankrupt, beloved.
with absolutely nothing to offer God in exchange for our eternal
souls. Nothing. I don't care how good
it is. Nothing. Nothing. And we know from studying
the scriptures that faith is not something that is native
to the sinner's heart. We cannot believe in our natural
state. We cannot believe in our natural
state. Faith, if it be the faith of
God's elect, is a gift. Is a gift. Turn, if you would,
to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. This faith is God-given. It's planted in our hearts by
God. It's a gift of sovereign mercy. Hell-deserving sinners
are granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive His glorious gospel.
And this gospel gives our great majestic triune God all the glory
and all the honor and all the praise, beloved. And it drains
man of self. It takes all our self away. And
it puts wholly our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him alone. We're closed with reading this
text here. Let's read chapter 2, verses 1. And we'll read to verse 10. Hath he quickened, now remember
our text too, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to
light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified
by faith that is in me. Again, that's in Christ. And
you, hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Well, there's the darkness that the Lord told Paul about. Where
in times past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, there the lost person
is under the power of Satan. According to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversations
in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. You couldn't tell one of God's
lost sheep from any other sinner. Couldn't tell. We were blind,
just like them. We were in darkness, just like
them. Look at this, verse four, but God. Oh, what a wonderful,
wonderful, two wonderful words, but God. who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, oh he's loved us
with an everlasting love, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together, that's you're born again, with Christ,
by grace ye are saved. Now notice there he says, by
grace ye are saved. And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. The believer is a monument to
the grace of God. A monument to the grace of God.
Now, remember he said over there in verse 5, by grace you are
saved. He repeats it here. Why does he repeat it? Because
we need to keep hearing it. We need to keep hearing it. For
by grace are ye saved through faith. That not of yourselves,
it is a gift of God. Remember, you receive the forgiveness
of sins. Faith is a gift too, so is repentance. And they both come to us from
God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. In heaven, there's
no boasting. We're looking to the one who's
done all the work. Because, man, if he can do something,
we'll boast about it. We as believers, if we boast,
we should only boast in Christ and in Christ alone. Look what
my king has done for me. What a magnificent savior. He
bought me. He sought me when I was in darkness. And when I was blind, he sought
me just like that lost sheep. He bought me. He purchased me
with his precious blood. And one day he'll take me home.
Forever. What a savior, what a redeemer
is Jesus Christ, our Lord.