Our scripture this morning is
in Acts, the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles as it is
labeled in our Bibles. Chapter 26, Acts chapter 26. I don't remember when we first
started. Yes, I do. My mind has returned
temporarily. Last Sunday night, we took a
reading out of Acts chapter 9, which is the account of Paul's
conversion while he still called Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus. And yet that's not the only time
that his conversion is described, which makes it stand by itself
as far as biblical records of conversion is concerned, as far
as I'm able to tell. So in chapter 22 of Acts, we
have his defense of himself to those that would take his life
from him, and Paul's defense in every case is a rehearsing
of His being converted, born again, brought to the feet of
the Lord Jesus as His Master and Savior and King. And here
in Acts chapter 26, we have the very same thing again, except
it is different characters that He's testifying before, and yet
it is the same. This chapter is absolutely full
of a tremendous account of a man who's being hunted just like
he used to hunt Christians. Now he's being hunted by the
very persons that he was pleasing when he was hunting them. I'm
talking about the Pharisees in particular in Jerusalem. as well
as the Sadducees and every other kind of seeds that there happened
to be in the Jews' religion in that generation and time. All
right, we've got 32 verses here in Acts chapter 26. I'll comment
a little bit, but I'll try not to comment much because I want
to work on verse 18 as our text for today. If you'd look at that
first of all, here's a Bible definition of who is a Christian. To open their eyes. And we're
not talking about physical eyes. We're talking about spiritual
sight. To open their eyes. To turn them from darkness to
light and from the power of Satan unto God. That's a description
of every genuine, honest conversion of a sinner to faith in Christ. And if you say, well, I wasn't
delivered from the power of Satan, then it may be that we confuse
ourselves by thinking that the only people that the devil has
are the murderers, the thieves, and the bank robbers, and immoral
people, and all kinds... I'm telling you that his greatest
weapon in this world upon the human race is religion. Ladies and gentlemen, religion.
It's Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Buddhist, you name
it, that's it. There ain't but two kinds in
this whole world. One where Christ is everything
and the one where men have to do something in order to please
God. That's all there is. So when this statement says turn
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. That's one of the main parts
of defining a believer. All right, next it says that
they may receive the forgiveness of sins. That's number three. Number four, and inheritance
among them which are sanctified. Every person that Christ saves,
he sanctifies. Number five, sanctified by faith
that is in me, in Christ. Not in the church, not in doctrine,
not in ourselves. There's only one object of faith,
saving faith that is, and that's the Lord Jesus. All right, go
back to our reading. Oh, we didn't start, did we?
Let's begin with verse 1 in Acts chapter 26. Then Agrippa said
unto Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself in this
defense of the apostle. Then Paul stretched forth his
hand. Give me just a second. I've got
something on my glasses here. I can't see. It's in my good spot. There we
go. Paul stretched forth his hand
and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King Agrippa,
because I shall answer for myself this day before you, touching
all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews, especially because
I know you to be an expert in all customs and questions which
are among the Jews. I believe Agrippa's wife, Bernice,
was a Jew. Wherefore, I beseech you to hear
me patiently. My manner of life from my youth,
which 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 strict 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 our twelve 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?" Back
in chapter 22, Paul is in Jerusalem making this defense before different
people Neither King Agrippa nor the one that we're about to meet
by the name of Festus were there. And Paul was just about to be
torn to pieces because he brought up the subject of the resurrection
of Christ from the dead. And he did it for one very good
reason, because he knew the Jews were divided into Sadducees and
Pharisees primarily. One of them denied the resurrection
and the one held tenaciously to it, as well as some other
particulars. And so Paul says here to King
Agrippa, I've lost my place. Is it verse
8? Excuse me? All right. I truly 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, the followers
of Christ, did I shut up in prison, having received authority from
the chief priest. And when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them, the most recent of which is Stephen's
martyrdom in Acts chapter 7. And I punished them often in
every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. and being
exceeding mad against them, I persecuted them even under strained cities.
Whereupon, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission
from the chief priest, at midday, O King, I saw in the way a light
from heaven." Now you understand that Paul is not only defending
himself legally, but Paul is preaching the gospel to whoever
will hear. There's a governor and a king
and no telling how many other people present. Whereupon I went up to Damascus
with authority and commission from the chief priest. At midday,
O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness
of the sun shining round about me and them which journeyed with
me. And when we were all fallen to
the earth, I heard a voice. speaking unto me, saying in the
Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecute you me? It is hard
for you to kick against the pricks." Paul is now fighting against
the beginnings of the work of God the Holy Spirit, and he's
finding it more difficult and more difficult. And I said, Paul
said, I said, Who are you, Lord? Who are you, Lord? And our Savior
said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. Rise and stand upon your feet,
for I have appeared unto you for this purpose. to make you
a minister and a witness both of these things which you've
seen and of those things in the which I will appear unto you,
delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom
now I send you, to open their eyes, 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. 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 borders of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should
repent, and turn to God, and do works meet or fit for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught
me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore
obtained help of God, I continue unto this day witnessing both
the small and great, seeing 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." Catch that. The Lord Jesus is the first to
rise from the dead. Are you listening? to die again. There have been several other
resurrections, but they were raised only to die again. It should show light unto the
people and to the Gentiles. As he thus spoke for himself,
Festus, the governor of that particular province, this is
in Caesarea by the way, said with a loud voice, He wants to hear no more of this,
so here's how he seeks to end it. Paul, you're beside yourself.
Much learning does make you mad. But he said, I am not mad, I'm
not crazy. Most noble Festus, but speak
forth the words of truth and soberness. Now referring to King
Agrippa. For the king knows of these things,
before whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none
of these things are hidden from the King, for this thing was
not done." This death and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ was
not done in a corner. King Areppa, do you believe the
prophets? I know that you believe. Can't be a Jew and not believe
the Old Testament. Then Agrippa said to Paul, almost you persuade me to be
a Christian, to be a Christian. What is an almost Christian? He ain't no Christian at all. Paul said, I would to God that
not only you but also all that hear me this day were both almost
and altogether such as I am except for these bonds. And when he
had thus spoken, King rose up and the governor and Bernice
and they that sat with them, when they were gone aside, they
talked between themselves saying, this man does nothing worthy
of death or of bonds, that is imprisonment. Then said Agrippa
to Festus, this man might have been set at liberty if he had
not appealed unto Caesar. But the Lord Jesus has already
informed Paul that he's to go to Rome. He's on His way. All
right, we'll come back to verse 18 in that chapter in just a
bit. All right, Acts chapter 26. I
just committed the unpardonable sin. to lead you in prayer, and I
ask you to turn in your Bibles. You're supposed to reverse that.
Curtis, where are you, buddy? I missed it again. But Ed did
it first this morning, so. All right, have you found Acts
26? All right. Now, you and I both need help
from above. If the Lord doesn't do something
for me and something for you, we ain't no good to each other. So let's beg Him for help. To you, our blessed Savior, our
glorious Sovereign, We call upon your name to open to our minds, our understandings,
our soul, our heart. Open our understanding to understand
these five things that describe in wonderful preciseness and
yet great depth, who a believer is. Who is the
person that trusts you and you have given to them, freely given
to them, your glorious salvation? Who are these people? And we ask this question not
to increase our knowledge, but for me to ask myself and each
one of us to ask themselves, do I fit this description? Do I know by personal experience
what we've just sung, hail sovereign love that first began, the scheme
to rescue fallen man. Lord, we beg for your presence.
We do not ask for physical indications of your presence. Lord, we ask for spiritual help
in our souls, in our minds, in our hearts. Everybody's religion puts the
emphasis on what people can see. Lord, deliver us from false religion, Baptist
or otherwise. Bless us, we pray. by making us your disciples,
your followers, your people, your elect, your
church. Help us, we pray, to the honor
and glory of the great name of the glorious Triune God. In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, let's read verse 18
once more. The Lord Jesus is speaking, if
I read this statement correctly, Beginning at the second sentence
in verse 15 and taking us to the end of verse 18 are the words
that our Savior spoke to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus
when our Savior conquered him by nothing but a word. A word. He speaks. And it's done. So the Lord Jesus said concerning
His will that the Apostle would do five things in verse 18. And this is particularly to be
noted as it has to do with Gentiles, though all sinners are saved
the very same way. Exactly the same, whether we're
Jew or Gentile or whatever, you know, concoction or mixture we
can possibly think of, these things make no difference whatsoever. One other thing by way of reminder
before it slips my mind for good. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, we're
not turning there, but just refer you to there if you'd like to
consult this. Oh, along about verse 16, maybe
17, Paul describes, he's describing himself as a blasphemer, a persecutor,
and so forth. And then he calls himself in
verse 15, the chief of sinners for whom the Lord Jesus came
into this world to save sinners, of whom he said, I'm chief. And
then he says that his conversion according to the revelation of
Christ, part of which we're reading in this chapter. The revelation
of Christ told Paul that his conversion is a pattern of all
other conversions. Here's the sample. Here's the
model by which we must view all conversions. So these words are
more than just words in Paul's ears. They're words in his heart. They've been burned there by
the power of God's grace in Christ. And here they are, to open blind
eyes. To be saved, you must have been
blind. And I'm not talking about physical
blindness. to turn from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan unto God. You and I, if we are believers,
we could never have been children of the devil, but we were all
slaves of the devil and slaves of sin. Whether we were in high
church pretending to be so holy, or in low church, or any place
else in between, or no church, this has nothing to do with it.
Every man and woman born of Adam is a slave to the devil until
delivered by the power of Jesus Christ in the gospel. Turn from darkness to light.
from the power of Satan unto God. Let's see what numbers this. Four, that they may receive,
this is three I believe, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins. How many sins? All of them. Wouldn't do a bit of good if
only part were forgiven. The next one says, and inheritance
among them which are sanctified. This means to be set apart for
holy usage and it means to be holy. And there's no reason that
I can see why both are not included in this statement here concerning
sanctification. But I'll come back to that. And
then this final statement, sanctified by faith that is in me. And that word me tells you that
Christ is the speaker. by faith that is in the Lord
Jesus, not in the preacher, not in the church, not in baptism,
not in the Lord's Supper, in Christ and in Christ alone. Faith
has but one object, and that object is Christ. All right,
let's get started. We're not going to make it. We're
already at, oh my goodness, oh my goodness. If you'd turn to one scripture
for me, please. Mark our place in Acts chapter 26. Turn to John
chapter 9. I wanted to show you in some
other places the very same truth, but this is the most succinct,
the briefest, the best, the clearest. What was the first one? A believer
is a person whose eyes have been opened spiritually. Here I can
prove it beyond a doubt. This wonderful 9th chapter of
John, the man that was born blind has been healed. But guess what? When his natural blindness was
healed, he still did not know who Christ is. That has to be
revealed. It has nothing to do with 2020. Start at verse 39. Here's the
concluding application of what has been transpiring in this
chapter. And if you want some blessed
reading, just read it real careful and meditate over it a little
bit. Verse 39, And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this
world. Don't have time to deal with
the word judgment. That they would see not might see, the blind might see. Well, I thought you said it was
going to be plain. Hang on. And that they which see might
be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind
also? And our Lord said to them, If
you were blind, If you were truly spiritually blind, guess what? You'd also have forgiveness of
sins. You would have no sins. But now you say, we see, therefore
your sin remains. You see that? That couldn't be
any plainer. Why did it take me so many years
to find this verse in my Bible and actually believe it? All right, the second thing is
to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto
God. One little tiny reference, Luke
chapter 11. I wish I could throw this watch
a country mile, I'd sure do it. Luke chapter 11. Just three little powerful verses. It will knock your socks off. How do you turn from darkness
to light? And how on earth do you get free
from the power of the devil? Here it is, plain and simple.
It's so easy, we don't like it because it doesn't let me do
any of it. That's how it is. All right, verse 20, Luke chapter
11. Did I get the chapter right? Verse 20, the Lord Jesus has
been casting devils out of people. Yes, you heard me right, devils.
And we are still born with plenty of devils in us. And I don't
know what we ain't still with some devils in us when we're
newborn. But you can figure that out for yourself. I don't know
about that. I'm just guessing. He said, These people claimed
he was using the power of the devil to cast out devils. That's
real smart. He said, but if I, with the finger
of God, do cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has
come upon you. That's what happened to Saul
of Parsis on the road to Damascus. Now this explains it. When a
strong man arm keeps his palace, his goods are in peace. He doesn't
have to worry about a thing. But when a stronger than he comes
upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor
wherein he trusted and divides his spoils. Takes anybody he
jolly well pleases to be his own. They're his. They belong
to him. That's how you and I become disciples
and followers and lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes and
rescues us. And it's all done without being
able necessarily to see it with these eyes. It's all in a spiritual
realm. All right, number three. Let's go back to the book of
Acts and just stop by chapter 13 for a second. We can take
care of this one in a couple of verses of Scripture. One whose spiritual eyes are
open, the believer is one who turns from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan unto God. And thirdly, one who has
received the forgiveness of sin. I don't mean on a probationary
basis. I mean whose sins are not only
forgiven, but they are gone. Gone. Gone. And yet these same
people confess themselves to be worse and worse sinners the
longer they live in this world as believers. But that's just
how it is. Just how it is. A believer is a person whose
sins are forgiven. All right. Did I tell you Acts
13? I'm glad I didn't tell you the
verses. You'd be reading your head off. Verses 38 and 39. Be it known unto you, men and
brethren, A friend of mine used to call
that brethren. I believe it's brethren. That through this man, the God-man,
the Lord Jesus, through this man, through Christ, is preached
unto you what? The free pardon and forgiveness
of sins. The forgiveness of sins. Now
watch this. One more verse. by Him, by Christ. All that belief, every true belief,
is justified from all things, no matter what it is, when it
was, what the circumstances were, and who was involved. Justified
from all things. There ain't nothing in God's
sight against His children. You know why? Because the Savior
has died, put their sins away, justified from all things. To show you how important this
is, from which, from those very same sins, You could not be justified
by the law of Moses. The law rewards but one thing,
and that's absolute perfection, and none of us can render it.
Therefore, all the law can do for you and me is to pronounce
its curse. But the Lord Jesus in the gospel
pronounces our sins are gone. Gone. Gone for good. Gone forever. All right, number
four. Two verses of scripture. Hebrews chapter 10. I can't put
all these things in the same spot in our Bibles, but if I,
I may live long enough to see it, you know, I just touch a
button and it shows up back here on the screen someplace. Oh my
goodness. Hebrews chapter 10, what is this
fourth part of this description of a believer, the definition
of a Christian? Of course, there's no word in
the English language more messed around with and defiled in every
way you can treat a word than the word Christian. It means
a lot of things to a lot of folks. I used to tell people the most
plastic word in the English language was barbecue, because I think
I know a little something about it because I've experienced it
as often as I can. But I don't know that that's
true. I think this very subject that
is in front of us, particularly as it applies to the word sanctified,
what did our text say? One who is sanctified doesn't
say he hopes to be, or he will be, or he might be, or if he
is, if he doesn't flub up, there's nothing attached to it. That there are degrees of sanctification
that we sort of climb a ladder, like one of the ungodly hymns
in our hymn book that says, the name of it is higher ground.
I'm telling you there ain't no higher ground. If you're in Christ,
that's all there is. And that's all we need. And that's all God requires.
That ought to tickle us to death. All right, chapter 10 of Hebrews,
two verses. First one is verse 10. By the which will, defined just
above us in this previous verse, as the will of God which Christ
came to do. Notably, the work of saving sinners. By the which will, we are sanctified. Boy, that's a bold statement.
Paul's writing this letter to a lot of people that are called
the Hebrews. I suppose that means most of
them were Jewish by background. By the which will we are sanctified,
how? Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once. Once. And the last two words
in that verse are italicized, which means they're not actually
there. The translators added them for
us. I don't care if you leave them
in. I mean, it's good either way. Once for all. Once or once
for all. I say take it both ways. Because
that's how it is. That's how it is. Let's see,
that was number four. We just got one more. But there's
another verse. Hold it. Don't leave Hebrews
10 yet. This is the clincher on sanctification, verse 14. For by one offering, by one sacrifice,
by the one death of God the Son, for by one offering, Christ has
perfected People say, well, sanctified
don't mean sanctified. Well, how about perfection? Does
perfection mean perfection? Sure it does. Both of them mean
the same thing in this case. Talking about the same people
at the same time and the same way. By one offering. Not a hundred,
not a thousand. One. One sacrifice. He has perfected forever them
that are, if I'm not mistaken that's a past tense verb, are
sanctified. Alright, one more. Let's go back
to, not quite to the book of Acts, but after 1st and 2nd Corinthians
you'll come to Galatians and then Ephesians. And I just have
one verse for you out of Ephesians chapter 2. This time the subject is faith. Not just any faith. Faith that
is in Christ alone. Christ alone. Faith that is in
me. In the second chapter of the
book of Ephesians, you'll kindly notice verse 8, For by grace are you saved, through faith, by grace, through faith, and
that not of yourselves, that faith is not of our making, it
is not of our doing, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
any man should boast. You see, faith is the sacred
deposit of God the Holy Spirit in what is called the new birth,
being born again, divine regeneration, being raised from spiritual death
to spiritual life. You cannot be spiritually alive
and not possess faith in Christ. Repentance too for that matter,
but here it's faith that is in me, that is in me. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that faith not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast." The Bible definition of a Christian.