May it please God this evening
to bless us together as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
Acts of the Apostles and chapter 26 and we'll read verse 18. The Acts of the Apostles chapter
26 and reading verse 18. And this verse, verse 18, is the statement that the Apostle
made before King Agrippa and that company at that time to
inform them what the Lord had sent him to do the commission
that God had given him and this is what it was 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." It's really a very concise statement
which is the blessed privilege of the servants of God to declare
unto the people that God has not sent his servants into the
world to just speak mere words which do not emanate from the
true word of God and to just touch the surface. But here the
Apostle very clearly directs us to the importance of the condition
of the situation which exists in the true conversion of never-dying
souls and how relevant that must be to everyone. How important
it is for all of us tonight to know that by the Spirit of God
this has happened to us and the Apostle therefore enumerates
this, and remember this was a wonderful opportunity he had to speak of
these things before King Agrippa and that worthy company. And
of course the Apostle was very direct, he didn't waste words,
very simple, so there was no misunderstanding. And of course
it didn't go down well, did it? Festus said, you're mad. And
of course most people today would say, we're mad. But the truth
is, we're not mad, because this is the Word of God. And so what
does the Apostle say? Well, he says, first of all,
to open their eyes, to turn from darkness to lightness, the first
important consideration, and then to turn from the power of
Satan unto God, And that's the second consideration. And then
that they may receive forgiveness of sins and then to be blessed
with the inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith. That is in me. Well we have all
these points which we understand and should believe and appreciate
that all of us should in measure be found walking in a path where
these things have a gracious effect upon us. That was the
concern of the Apostle Paul when the King Agrippa, you may remember,
The apostle said to him, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. And
of course, he was directing him to think back and see the fulfillment
of what those prophets had said. And Agrippa answered, and this
is a really tragic statement, isn't it? I think it's perhaps
the most tragic statement in the word of God. Almost thou
persuadest me to be a Christian. Almost is of no is no benefit. It's not good There's no hope
We cannot be an almost Christian Or we can be but we go to hell
We need to be a born-again Christian We need to know in our own souls
the work by the Holy Spirit of those things that this 18th verse
declares to us. Because the Apostle said, I would
to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day,
were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
He wasn't, of course, you remember, a prisoner. But nonetheless,
he was still willing and prepared and every opportunity the Apostle
Paul was given to preach the Gospel, he preached it. What
a blessing it was. And so here, in these words,
think of it, the Apostle standing there as a prisoner and making
his case before that company, learned company, he doesn't hesitate
and he tells them what it was. He says, delivering thee from
the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. That
was who God had sent him. And it's very important to realise,
and again as I mentioned this morning, we need to know the
whole counsel of God and not just refer to one part and come
to a conclusion. In the ninth chapter of the Acts
of the Apostles you can read about the conversion. of the
Apostle Paul. And that's what he refers to
here in his defense before Agrippa. But there are many more details
which we read of here than are recorded in the ninth chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles. So we should not read that and
say, well that's all of course that God spoke to him. No it
wasn't. There was much more. And here we have some of those
things. The Lord clearly spoke to the
apostle. Another reason, surely, for all
of us to read the Word of God and to look for the whole counsel
of God and to recognise how wonderful it is. You know, you young people,
you read the Word of God and you will find as you read it
more and more, and read it consecutively and read it through, you'll find
it fits together more and more. It's a homogeneous mass. It's not just a lot of variety
of just various statements and accounts just strung together. It's the whole Word of God. And
remember, it's God who breathed into those men of old to write
these words. It wasn't the words of a man.
It was the words of a man, but they were inspired by the Holy
Spirit of God. And as we may recognize the great
truth of that, the wonderful blessing of thinking that Almighty
God condescended to inspire poor sinful men to write down his
words which you and I are now able to read. and realize, therefore,
that these are the words of the ever-living God. We know, of
course, it's not in the Greek, in the words that it was written,
but nonetheless it's a good translation. And we should be very, very thankful
for that, that God has ordained that we as a nation are blessed
with a good translation of that Greek word that was originally
written. We should be thankful indeed
and praise God There are still today millions in the world who
do not have the Bible in their language, and millions more who
are not able to receive the Word of God in their language. So
you and I today, we have a wonderful blessing and a wonderful privilege.
My friends, count it a blessing. Don't ignore it, because God
has given it to us for our soul's eternal good. And don't forget
the Word of God which tells us this, to whom much is given,
much shall be required. And what that means in a nutshell
is this, we are without excuse. We won't be able to stand before
that judgment seat of Christ and say, well, I didn't actually
read the Bible. In actual fact, I didn't really
look at it hardly at all. That won't be an excuse. And so, bless God that we have
the Word of God and may it be used for the eternal good of
our souls. And so the Apostle then was sent
to the Gentiles and of course to the Jews as well to open their
eyes and to turn them from darkness to light. Well we know of course
that naturally Paul the Apostle could not do that. We know that
it was the sovereign will and the sovereign grace and sovereign
purpose of the Holy Spirit to open blind eyes. But nevertheless,
the Lord in his wisdom has called men to preach the gospel. And we're told it's through the
foolishness of preaching that these things will be conveyed.
And so we have no power as a preacher to convey these things into the
soul and produce any conversion. But we are nonetheless to preach
the whole counsel of God and bless God he can apply his word
and he does apply his word. And may you and I know that he
has applied the word to our souls so that we are indeed those who
have received the true word of God. And it's not just a mere
historical account, but it is the living word from the living
God. And may it be to our living soul. And so the Apostle says to open
their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light. Well, surely
the question for us tonight is to know whether the Holy Spirit
has opened our eyes. so that we can say, one thing
I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. What does that mean? It means that spiritual eyes
had been opened. Oh, my friends, may we know it. Look into your heart. See whether
the Holy Spirit has wonderfully and gloriously opened your blind
eyes. Because if that is so, what has
happened is what's spoken here. He's turned darkness to light. He's turned darkness to light. That's a test, isn't it? That's
a test for us, a test for all of us in our spiritual life,
to be able to see whether God has turned our darkness into
light. Or whether we are still in the
same condition in which we were born, which was of course a condition
of darkness. Well, let us each one of us examine
ourselves. I can't examine you, you can't
examine me, but you can examine yourself before God. Perhaps you may find it a little
difficult to appreciate what's happened. Well, you can ask God
to show you and to evidence that you have been blessed with that
experience, to know that whereas you were blind, Now you see. You see things in a different
light. You see things in God's light. And when that light shines, it
reveals to us really two things, principally. Many things, of
course, but two things principally. And the first thing is to reveal
to us that we are a sinner against God, before God, we have disobeyed
God, we have not obeyed God, and therefore we are guilty before
a holy God. And when the Holy Spirit convinces
us of that, you know what it does? It makes us tremble before
God because we realize that we are guilty. And if we're guilty
before God, What is going to be the end of our life? The Holy Spirit then will direct
us to show that no sinner can enter into heaven. And that may produce a great
trembling upon our spirits. And it may have done, and bless
God if it has, and if it hasn't done, may it be so, that you
and I tremble before God. Remember, God is not a little
God, He's a great God. That God who controls everything,
that God who holds your life in His hand. You can't extend
your life beyond the time the Lord has permitted for you. You
can't extend it. No, there's a determined date
upon you when you'll leave this earth. But none of us know when
it will be. And therefore may we be ready
for that great day. Again, the hymn writer uses very
apt words when he said, prepare me. And that's what it comes
down to. It's not the person next to you on the seat. Prepare
me. gracious God, to stand before
thy face. Thy spirit must the work perform. And it is all of God's grace. We can't demand it. But if we
are convinced by the Holy Spirit that we are a sinner before God
and need to be forgiven, and need to be cleansed from our
sins, that our sins will be taken away. What would have occurred? We can thank God that our darkness
has been turned to light. And again, it won't be just a
conviction of sin. Many people will say they're
sinners. Perhaps nearly everybody in the
world will say they're sinners. But that doesn't mean that they
are convicted of their sin before a holy God and need salvation. It's when the Holy Spirit comes
and reveals what sin means. It means that it separates between
us and God. Remember, the holy God cannot
look upon sin. You may say, well, what am I
to do? The Holy Father sees us through his Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That really is why the Lord Jesus
Christ is precious to his people, because he is of great value.
There's none other name given under heaven among men whereby
we must be saved. It's only through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so here was the apostle sent
forth by God and all his servants sent forth by God with the same
commission. And if there is not that commission,
then we should doubt and question whether they are sent to preach
the everlasting gospel. And so it is to open their eyes
and to turn them from darkness to light. Indeed it's to warn
people, to warn them about the wrath to come. so that there
may be that fleeing, that turning away from that wrath and seeking
unto the Saviour, seeking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And so,
to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan unto God. Now we're born in sin and
shaped in iniquity. We're under the power of Satan. And we remain there really until
the gracious God puts forth his hand and stops us in what we
might term our mad career. It's a mad career because we're
careering down the broad road to hell. What a blessing when
God puts forth his hand or has put forth his hand and has stopped
us. And from the power of Satan unto
God. The Lord turns us. We've been
willing servants of the devil. We've been willingly serving
him. Well, who is your master? Who is my master today? Is it
the devil? Or is it God? You might say,
well, that's pretty obvious, of course. I know whom my master
is. Well, you need to examine ourselves
very carefully on that question. As to whether we are blessedly
turned by the Spirit, from the power of Satan, unto God. And if that is so, what will
have occurred is this. The Word of God describes it.
It is to crucify our flesh. You know, of course, that we
have the flesh and the Spirit. And there's a conflict between
those two. between our old nature, our flesh, and the new nature,
which is the Holy Spirit of God. And there is that conflict. And
you see, by nature we serve the power of Satan. But the blessed
evidence of the work of God in turning us is to produce in our
hearts a desire to be found serving the Lord and not serving Satan. And it will be crucifixion to
our flesh. And it's very important that
we recognise why that word is used. Crucifixion of the flesh. Do you know why it is? Well,
it's not to just make something easy for us. Naturally, crucifixion
was the most painful death that anyone could suffer to die. It was exceedingly painful. And crucifying our flesh, turning
away from the things that you and I like to do, will be painful. It won't be easy. That's why
it's Explained like that the crucifixion of the flesh and
what a blessing it is when God Gives us strength and power to
turn away from the power of Satan and it won't be easy never think
it will be But if God is on our side Yes, he will help us He
will strengthen us He will enable us to do that which perhaps we
thought we weren't able to do, we thought we wouldn't have strength
enough to do that. Because some of those things which Satan gets
us embroiled in are very difficult to extricate ourselves from. And it will mean a painful situation,
painful to the flesh. I remember my grandfather telling
me when he was a young man and he wanted to go out with this
young lady. And he approached her and he
said, well would she go out with him? And she said, well yes she
would, but on one condition. And what was that condition?
That he must give up all his bad habits. And his bad habits
were, of course, going down to the local pub and getting drunk
and drinking and playing cards and everything else. Well, the
Spirit of the Lord enabled him to do that. And he went down
and he said, I'm not coming anymore. I've finished with you lot. Well, it's a blessing if God
gives you and me strength to do that. It's not easy. It's not easy.
Because people would say, you fool, what do you think you're
doing? Don't be so silly. Don't give that up. Don't give
up. Come on. Join in with us. No, says the Holy Spirit. Crucify the flesh. And so here
we have this statement. The apostle is instructed by
God to do, and from the power of Satan, unto God and that's
not the only thing of course there are many other subtleties
that the devil brings before us in the day and age in which
we live on. You know the power of Satan is
all around us, he's in our hands isn't he? With the mobile phones
and the internet and everything there. Satan's there isn't he? And you've only got to just move
the screen a bit and press a button and you'll find you're worshipping
Satan. You're not worshipping God. You'll need the grace of
God. You'll need the power of God
and the strength of God to keep you on the right road, the narrow
way, and not to be found under the power of Satan. The devil
is in control today of so many things, isn't he? You look around,
he's controlling the media. Yes, he's controlling these and
that person. Seems as though he's just running
riots, which he is. let us not forget the Lord God
omnipotent reigns and don't think that you and I don't have strength
enough the Lord does give strength the Lord does help the Lord does
bless his people and so may we thank God today that we have
a God who is a great God and so here we have this statement
and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness
of sins. Now this, of course, is vital. No sinner enters into heaven. You may think, well, how can
that come about? Well, the Word of God is very
encouraging. We read these words. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God gives faith to believe as
we come, confessing our sins. If we don't confess our sins
there won't be any forgiveness. But if we come by the Spirit's
aid, confessing our sins, and again you know, It's an evidence
of God's favour and blessing to be able to confess sin, because
we don't like to. You may say, why is that? We
don't like to admit we're wrong. We don't like to confess we've
done wrong things. But bless God, there is this
gracious work of the Blessed Spirit which enables us to come
to Him bringing all our sins before him, pouring out our heart
before him. You see, you don't have to hide
anything from God. God knows all about it anyway. But it's good to be able to come
and to relieve yourself of that burden of sin. The only way it's done is by
coming to God and confessing our sins before God. and not
pretending that we're a bit righteous, having to confess that we're
unrighteous, and have to confess, just like the Apostle Paul, that
in me, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. What a sad state. So it is. It's because of the
fall, because of Adam's sin. Sin passed upon all men, and
we're all under the curse. We're all under sin, and we all
need the great and blessed forgiveness of our sins, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins. Now, if the Holy Spirit has convinced
us of sin, we will be pleading that we may know the forgiveness
of that sin. And the Lord will be righteous
and merciful to us, and not indeed deal with us as our sins deserve. And the Lord therefore gives
us a right understanding. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote
to the Ephesians, he said, the eyes of your understanding, spiritual
understanding, being enlightened. What a mercy, then, if the Holy
Spirit has enlightened our eyes to show us our condition before
a holy God and brought us to that place where we plead for
mercy. We plead to God that he will
forgive us of all our sins. It won't be just a formality. It's right, of course, to pray
for the forgiveness of our sins because we sin every day and
we need the forgiveness of our sins. What a blessing it is to
have the application by the Holy Spirit to come and to plead with
Him. Remember those glorious words,
if we confess our sins, and that means with an open heart, an
honest heart, seeking that our sins might really be forgiven,
our God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. What
a mercy that is. What a blessing that is, my friends.
What a mercy when God gives us this right spiritual understanding
to appreciate the blessing of these things. That they may receive
forgiveness of sins. You and I receive the evidence
in our hearts Religion is that which affects our heart. It won't
just be a theory in our minds. We must be so clear of that.
It will be that which affects our hearts and that we will rejoice
in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. This is where this
understanding is leading us. It's leading us to Christ. Anywhere
less than that will not do. But if the Holy Spirit opened
our eyes and turned us from darkness to light and from the power of
Satan unto God, and that we may receive the forgiveness of sin,
it's because of what Christ has done. If there was no Lord Jesus Christ,
there would be no salvation. If there was no crucified Saviour,
there would be no salvation. If there was no risen Lord, there
would be no salvation. And so today, do we, are we,
thankful indeed for the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is, and
it must be, so humbling, so humbling for sinners of the earth, like
you and me, to understand that Almighty God, Almighty God, graciously
condescended, because there was neither way of salvation, He
condescended to take on Himself our human nature. and the importance
of that was so that he could be judged in our place. We are judged guilty, we must
be. And therefore, guilty as we were,
there was a price to pay for that guilt. Because of our sin,
we could not pay the price ourselves. We could not free ourselves from
the sins that we had committed. Those sins were stacked against
us. And they spoke one word. Condemnation. Condemnation. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. No hope in ourselves. And so the blessed Saviour the
glorious Son of God, the co-equal Son of God, agreed with the Holy Father and
the Holy Spirit to come into this sinful world and to stand
in our place and to bear and to take the punishment instead. Surely we have to say, and I
hope we do from our heart, what a Saviour, to save such a sinner as me.
Surely there was nothing in me that was of any value. And yet,
in the sight of Almighty God, we were of such value, the only
begotten Son of God. He willingly came into this world
to bear the punishment due to us, to pay the price for our
sin, that we might be freed from that condemnation. Well, bless
God today. And if the Holy Spirit has opened
our eyes, we shall thank God from our heart. for the work
of the Saviour. Because that work, the Father
gave Him to do. He completed it. He didn't give
up. It was a most difficult work.
It was a most hard task. And there was great opposition
all the way. Satan was in His elbow, trying to turn Him away. But how thankful we are, our
blessed Saviour, he stood this great test. Yes, right down to
that most painful death upon that cross. And also, he had
to endure the hiding of his father's face. The reality was, for those
three hours he endured hell on our behalf. Yes, how willing
Was Jesus to die that we fellow sinners might live? Or are we thankful tonight for
what Jesus has done? And if we are, is Jesus precious
to us? If somebody gives their life,
saves someone's life by giving their life, surely it's of very
great value, isn't it? What do you think? The Saviour
gave His life for those who never deserved it. We never deserved
it, did we? And we sin, and we do sin still. Tragic, isn't it? Sad, isn't
it? Oh, says the hymn writer, oh
thou hideous monster, sin! What a curse has thou brought
in. Do we feel it sometimes? What
a curse it is and how hideous it is. And what a great Saviour
we have, who so graciously condescended to bear the punishment instead. And so that they may receive
the forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified
by faith, that is in me. You see, there's a good end.
There is an inheritance to look forward to. And it's an inheritance
which the Lord has given to us, which is incorruptible, undefiled,
and it fadeth not away. I'll be thankful tonight for
the great and glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. we then who
were sometimes darkness sometimes darkness yes we were the apostle
speaks of that when he wrote to the ephesians he said for
ye were ye were no doubt about it you were sometimes darkness
but now are ye light in the lord not in ourselves in the lord
Walk as children of light. That's a gracious command, isn't
it? That's a loving command, isn't it? Surely that's what
we as God's children, redeemed with His precious blood, invaluable
blood, desire to do. Walk as children of light. Surely
that's another evidence of the work of God in our hearts. The
change has occurred because by His grace we desire So walk in
the light. Yes, walk in the light. And to think therefore there
is then this wonderful prospect to the Church of God and inheritance
among them which are sanctified. And again, we are sanctified. by God's grace, not something
that you and I can produce ourselves, but we are sanctified by the
grace of God and the Apostle Paul, he tells us these things
when he wrote to the Corinthians, he gave them a list of many sins,
many evil sins, and he then tells them, and such were some of you,
yes they were, And such were some of you, but ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Well, what a wonderful
statement that is, and how glorious it is to think that not anything
in ourselves, but because the Lord Jesus loved us, with an
everlasting love, we are therefore washed, washed clean, and we're
washed in the blood of the Lamb. It was the blood shed upon the
cross at Calvary, the evidence of the death of the Saviour,
which saves His people from their sins. And also, if we are therefore
washed, we are sanctified. We possess that new nature, that
holy nature that seeks after the things of God and can therefore
anticipate the end of our journey when we shall find ourselves
in that holy happy place where sin no more is known or realised
or it doesn't define us and we shall be with Christ forever. which is indeed far better. Well, we can bless God, I hope
tonight, that we have this short explanation of what the preaching
of the Gospel is, what the Apostle was ordained to do, and what
all his servants are commanded to do, by the grace of God, remembering
we cannot produce anything ourselves, but the Lord applies his word.
And may he apply his word with power from on high, Power belongeth
unto God. You might ask, why is that? Because
God is a jealous God, and we've got to have all the glory. He
won't let us have any glory. But my friends, He has the glory,
and we are very willing that is so, so that His name may be
lifted up and honoured and glorified. And so, to hear these words tonight,
to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and to turn them from the power of Satan unto God, that they
may receive receive, we don't work for it, we receive it, the
forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified
by faith that is in me. Amen.