I please the Lords to be with
us as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the Apostles,
Chapter 26. We'll read this evening verses
19, 20 and 21. The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter
26, and reading verses 19, 20 and 21. Whereupon, O King Agrippa,
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. but showed first
unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all
the coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should
repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught
me in the temple and went about to kill me. As we read this account of the
Apostle speaking before King Agrippa and that august company,
we should realise what an amazing plan there was by Almighty God
to bring this to occur. Because as Paul, if he'd been
left to just go about from place to place, the people that he
would have spoken to would have no doubt been much less and indeed
much less influential but here we see these people gather together
here at Caesarea to hear the great words of the Apostle and
we are so thankful that he was faithful in the things that he
declared And so many people would have heard it. And so we can
rejoice to realize how God has a mighty plan. And those things
which men do to try and stop the work of God appearing and
being blessed sometimes comes round full circle. And so it
was in this case. Now, remember that Last week
we spoke of the things that the Apostle spoke concerning his
call by God. That call to come and to preach
the Gospel. And we concluded with the 18th
verse where we read, 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." And as
we mentioned, quite clearly, in order for those things to
have been set before the people, Christ would have been preached,
Christ would have been set before them, Christ would have been
exalted. And so the Apostle now is able
to state, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly
vision. Now that's something to be thankful
for. Thankful for in the Apostle's life and thankful for in our
lives because it is very easy to be disobedient to the heavenly
vision. To be disobedient to the things
that the Lord has spoken to us. disobedient in the way that the
Lord has directed us, disobedient in the way the Word of God directs
us. And so here the Apostle had a good conscience and he was
able therefore to say from his heart and as I often said the
Apostle was an honest man and he was able therefore to speak
in these words and to confirm that he'd not been disobedient
unto the heavenly vision. And it will be good for all of
us to examine ourselves and to pray that we might come to a
similar conclusion. And if we can't, and we may not,
we may have fallen far short to come and confess our sins
and repent over that situation and to seek for that strength
and blessed help from God to obey that which is set before
us. And so the Apostle goes on and
he explains. He says, I was not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision but showed first. And he describes
now who he preached to, who he declared, these things too. And it's quite clear that he
was faithful to the Jews at Damascus, remember that's where he was
converted, and we know that he came and he preached Christ to
those people immediately, and then at Jerusalem, a place of
course where he'd received previously much teaching at the feet of
Gamaliel, and then throughout all the coasts of Judea, and
then to the Gentiles. And we realised what a vast area
that was. And here was the Apostle, with
not the communications that we have today, but it was by boat
or by foot, or perhaps by ass or something like that, but generally
by foot. It was a really hard work, and
yet the Apostle went from place to place, declaring these great
and wonderful truths. And we're told here, And then
to the Gentiles, and what did he say? That they should repent
and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. Remember when the Lord Jesus
began his ministry, his ministry was when he spoke that they should
repent and believe the gospel. and how necessary that is for
us to repent. But we must realize that, of
course, in and of ourselves, when we are still spiritually
dead, dead in trespasses and in sins, we don't naturally have
any ability to actually repent. But what a blessing it is when
the Spirit of God comes and calls us. God does call his people,
and he calls them out of the darkness of nature into the glorious
light of the everlasting gospel. And then I believe when the Blessed
Spirit has done this, there is that desire then to truly repent,
repent of our sins, repent of the way we've lived, and desiring
that we might indeed be found, not men-pleasers, but God-pleasers,
There's that very beautiful word in the Romans, the goodness of
God leads to repentance. And I'm sure that is true when
you and I realise the mercy and the love of God toward us, in
not dealing with us as our sins deserve, has not cut us off. Indeed, as the word tells us,
it's a cumbra of the ground, something which is totally worthless. The Lord has been gracious to
us, and as we see his amazing grace and his amazing love, what
do we say? The goodness of the Lord leadeth
us to repentance. Direct us then to repent of our
sins, because it's our sins which cause the Lord Jesus Christ to
suffer upon that cross at Calvary. If there had been no sin, there
would have been no need for a saviour. But the saviour came. The saviour
willingly came. And he gave his life as a great
and glorious sacrifice to redeem his people and to give them that
blessed gift of repentance. So that they do come to that
situation where they are sorry for their sins. because they
realize it's their sins which have caused the Lord Jesus Christ
to so suffer. And what an effect that has as
we consider the love of God to us, the mercy of God to us, and
his wonderful favor. And so here we have this great
and blessed truth that they should repent and turn to God You see,
it's not a question of just repenting, just being sorry for our sins. If the Lord blesses us with that
true repentance, there'll be a turning, a changing of direction,
from following our own way, doing our own will, to desire to be
submissive to God's will for us, for his direction for us,
to not carry on in our own way, but to turn to God. Oh what a blessing it is if we
look back in our lives and see the time when God turned us turned
us from our mad way of following that way which leads to destruction
to God Almighty none less came and gave us that true living
desire to repent and He it is that has turned us. And then
we desire, don't we, not only to be found in this way of turning,
but also to do works meet for repentance, those which are evidences
of the true work of God in our souls. We read together in that
second epistle of, I suppose, the Corinthians, and in the seventh
chapter, we read the effect, really, of this repentance. And we read, for godly sorrow
worketh repentance unto salvation. That's, remember, godly sorrow. Sorrow which is brought upon
us because we recognise how we have sinned against Almighty
God, and to be truly sorry for it. For godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. You see, there
are many things which we repent of, but what a blessing when
the Lord works in our hearts like this. Godly sorrow Work
as repentance to salvation, not to be repented of, but the sorrow
of the world, death. You see, there's the great difference.
For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly
sword. And here's the evidence, what
carefulness it wrought in you. Carefulness to do that which
is right, and to not offend God. and not to offend the brethren,
but to be found walking in the tender fear of the Lord. This
is the wonderful outworking of this truth, and do works which
are in accordance with true repentance. Sorrowing after a godly sort,
what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves,
yea, what indignation Yea, what fear! Yea, what vehement desire! What a different scene, isn't
it? To those who are blessed with this godly repentance. What
a change in our lives. Different values, different desires. Desires after holiness. Things
that were alien to us before. We lived for this life. Bless
God, then, if he's granted us this wonderful favour. that we
should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. There is a flowing together of
these things. It's working out the evidence
of the work of God in our souls. It's not something which is separate. They're all joined together.
And so here we have this great saying, what vehement desire.
Oh, it's a tremendous word, isn't it? vehement desire after spiritual
blessings. Not just a casual desire, not
just a desire which we work up on a Sunday, but a vehement desire
to be found serving the Lord and doing his will and turn to
God and do works meet for repentance. Remember here the Apostle is
therefore speaking to all this company and there's King Agrippa
there, sitting there, and he didn't hold back anything, did
he? He told them the reality of the effect of God's work in
the soul. Alien it was to most of them. And then he tells King Agrippa
and those there, and he said, well I've told you the situation,
I've declared it honestly before you, and now, listen, for these
causes, the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to
kill me. Well, he was able to give a good
testimony. He was able to tell King Grepper,
look, here's the list. Here's the things that I'm being
accused of. And it's because of these things
that the Jews, they desire to kill me. It's because he was
really expressing so clearly that these things were of grace. They were not of works. The Jews
were relying on their religion of works in keeping the law. Well, the Apostle had been taught
very clearly, it is by grace that we are saved, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And that's really what the Apostle
had been expressing here to King Agrippa, and therefore he was
able to make this statement to the King. For these causes the
Jews caught me, in the temple and went about to kill me." Well,
we should be thankful, shouldn't we, tonight that we have, in
the word of God, such a clear testimony, and not speaking in
a comfortable zone of believers, but speaking in an uncomfortable
zone of unbelievers, but Paul was faithful. And you and I today
are called to be faithful. Amen.