In the ninth chapter of the book
of Acts is a description of how God saves
a sinner, and the particular sinner who is on display in Acts
chapter nine is the man that we've come to know as the Apostle
Paul, but his name before conversion was Saul. And it is the only
person in the whole of the Scriptures whose conversion is said to be
a pattern of all other conversions. Paul mentions this in one of
his letters to Timothy. So it is really quite remarkable. The other thing that is truly
remarkable is that in the book of Acts alone, we have three
descriptions of Paul's conversion. The first one in Acts 9 is under
the leadership and inspiration of the Spirit of God. Luke, the
beloved physician, writes this account in Acts chapter 9. In
chapters 22 and 26, the apostle rehearses his conversion, how
he met the Lord Jesus, how Christ revealed himself to him, and
many of the details as he testifies before the various tribunals
and judgments to which he was brought before being taken to
Rome. So our first reading this morning will come from Acts 9,
and the second one from Acts 26. All right, Acts chapter 9,
beginning at verse 1. This follows close on the heels
of the stoning of Stephen, of which Paul was very much a part,
and an overseer and supervisor. And so it says in verse 1 of
chapter 9 in Saul, still breathing out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest
and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, that way is Christ, if he
found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might
bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecute you
me? These were the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ spoken to Saul. And he said, Who are you? And partly answering his own
question, he finishes the statement, Who are you, Lord? Are you the Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus. whom you persecute, it is hard
for you to kick against the pricks, against the convicting work of
God the Holy Ghost. And he trembling and astonished
said, Lord, what will you have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told you what
you must do. Frightening little thing right
here in verse 6. The Lord Jesus is already talking
to Saul. He could have told him what Ananias
is going to tell him when he gets to Damascus. I wonder why
not? Because our God delights to use
means. He prefers to speak through Ananias
to Saul in regard to the particulars. Verse 7, And the men which journeyed
with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul's eyes were opened,
and Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened,
he saw no man. But they led him by the hand
and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without
sight, neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple
at Damascus named Ananias, one of the followers of our Lord,
and of that way to which the Scripture referred, and those
of this way, back in verse 2. So this disciple named Ananias,
and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and Ananias said, Behold,
I am here, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Arise,
and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Parsis." And these
four words now attach to the end of verse 11 in regard to
Saul of Parsis. For behold, he prays. Saul is a Pharisee. He prayed
religiously every day that rolled over, but he ain't never prayed
in his life till right now. Did you know you can't pray unless
you know the Lord Jesus in saving mercy? God won't hear you, nor
me either, nor any other man. He prays. This is truly remarkable. And the Lord goes on to say to
Ananias, and has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in
and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight. Then
Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how
much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here
he has authority from the chief priest, to bind all that call
on your name. But the Lord said to Ananias,
Go your way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name
before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. And
I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's
sake. And Ananias went his way, entered
into the house, and putting his hands on Saul said, Brother Saul,
brother now, already a believer, brother Saul, the Lord, even
Jesus, has appeared unto you in the way as you came. He sent me that you might receive
your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately
there fell from Saul's eyes as it had been scales, as if he
had scales on his eyes, and he received sight immediately forthwith
and arose and was baptized. And when he had received meat,
he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with
the disciples, which were at Damascus." We want a title for the message
this morning. It is, The Almost Christian. Almost. Now may we pray. Lord, we are privileged beyond
knowing to have in our hands the holy scriptures. This book, like yourself, is
indeed glorious. If God is glorious, God's words
are glorious indeed. Lord, the danger is that because of my familiarity
with the Bible, because of the prejudice of my
natural heart because of this fallen nature that is ever following
and haunting me. I stand in grave danger of twisting
and resting the holy scriptures to make them say what I believe
they ought to say. in mercy and grace, help us,
we beg. If we know anything at all about
your blessed gospel, we know that your Son is declared everywhere
in this book to be all and everything. Oh, may we find Him so today. And if we are to find him, that
one about whom we sung, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, if we are
to find him, Lord, you must make yourself
known, or we cannot know you. Help us, we beg. bring good to our souls this
day. Deliver us from any religion except the
religion of Christ. We cast ourselves upon your mercy
and your grace, and we beg that you would lower yourself in infinite
infinite condescension and come among us in this place. Lord, all of us together, we
are nothing. We have nothing and we can do
nothing, but you can do all things. Have your will and your way. We pray for Christ's sake. Amen. Now if you'll hold your place
at Acts chapter 26, I have some unfinished business I must take
care of from last Sunday. I want you to turn just for a
second. I'll be as brief as... I won't
be as brief as you might think some other people can be, but
I'll be as brief as I can be. Luke chapter 7, just for a second,
just for a second. I'm going to speak tonight, God
willing, on this subject, but I must address this matter this
morning, particularly to the persons who were here last Sunday,
for this was our second reading passage, if I remember right,
last Sunday. I don't remember where we took the first one from.
But we read the story beginning at verse 36 and going through
verse 50 in Luke chapter 7, where this poor woman, who was a notorious
sinner in this particular village. She came to where our Lord was
having a meal in Simon the Pharisee's house, and she fell at his feet. She washed his feet with her
tears. She dried them with the hairs
of her head. She kissed his feet continually,
on and on, and finally took out a bottle or box or whatever it
was of costly perfume and anointed the Savior's feet. And then at
verse 41, the Lord Jesus, because of the niggardly fashion in which
Simon had treated our Lord Jesus compared to this woman's treatment
of him, our Lord says to Simon in verse 40, I've got something
to say to you, and it's a parable about a creditor with two debtors.
One owed him 50 pence, the other 500. And our Lord asked him the
question, then, who will love him the most? And he grudgingly,
just with his teeth gritted, no doubt, well, I suppose it's
the one who owed him the most. And our Lord pronounces in verse
48 to this dear woman, He said, Your sins are forgiven. And those that were at that table
with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that
forgives sins also? And the Lord Jesus turns to this
woman and makes this statement, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. And I'm here to tell you this
morning that this book often does not mean what it says. I'm going to repeat that. This
statement in verse 50 does not mean what it literally says. The true and the false gospel cannot be distinguished by what
the Bible says. It can only be distinguished
by what it means. Case in point, go get any Bible
you've got at your house and look up Luke 7.50 and see if
that's what it says. That's what it says. It says
what it says. But that's not what it means.
Faith cannot save. Christ is the only Savior. Now if you don't understand that,
you do not understand this book. You and I cannot bring any contribution
of any kind whatsoever before, during, or after our conversion. It must be all of grace because
it has to be all of Christ. and for any man or any woman
to arrogate, to arrogate, that's the correct word, but I'm going
to say it so you really understand it, with an arrogant heart, a
proud heart, to take credit to ourselves that we have anything
to do with our salvation is to rob God of His glory in Jesus
Christ. And I challenge you on this point.
If you ask this woman, how were your sins forgiven? You think
she'd have said, my faith cleansed me of my sins. If you had said
to her, how were you saved? You suppose she would have dared
to say, my faith saved me. What is she doing at the Savior's
feet? What means those tears? That
drying of those tears with her hair, the kissing of His feet
and the anointing them with precious ointment. What means all this? If He saves me partly and I must
do the rest. He's done His part and now it's
up to me. No sir, my friend, that is a hellish gospel and
no gospel at all. That is a damning gospel and
it cannot be. And I take my stand one more
time this morning on this grand and glorious truth, that Christ
is everything and Christ is all. And I'll live or die with that. And I believe I know most of
you well enough to know you will too. Well, I'm going to try to take
care of this tonight, if the Lord will help me and let me.
So let's go back to Acts 26. The only reason I brought that up
this morning is because I did not make any mention whatsoever
of that statement when I read that passage last Sunday, but
it came to my attention that there was an interpretation
made of that text that it is proper to say that our faith
saves us. And it ain't proper, not unless
you mean Christ. Christ. Christ. All right, Acts
26. Paul's already had a hearing
before Felix. Now there's a new man in town
by the name of Festus. And King Agrippa comes onto the
scene in chapter 26. And so it's time that Paul has
another opportunity to speak of his salvation by Jesus Christ
alone. Ananias told Paul when he went
to him, you remember, on the Lord's destructions, that God
has raised you up and saved you so that you'll be his messenger
to kings and princes, to Gentiles as well as Jews. You and I can
have no proper understanding of how many different groups
of people were at these various hearings that Paul goes through
before he ever goes to Rome. And here's another one in Acts
chapter 26. We know for sure that there are
Jews there because they're bringing the charges. Pharisees and scribes
and others who are interested. There are Gentiles there. There's
kings there. The king's court. In this case,
the king's wife and the governor of the province. So verse 1 of
Acts 26. Then Agrippa, King Agrippa, said
to Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul
stretched forth his hand and answered for himself. And here's
what he said, 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 expert an expert in all the customs
and questions which are among the Jews. Agrippa has followed
the Jewish religion fairly closely and has some kinship and connection
with it. Wherefore, I beseech you to hear
me patiently. My manner of life from my youth,
which was at 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. Paul was Mr. Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged
in 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, say 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 barely
thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus of Nazareth." And boy, he sure did his best.
Which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints 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,
as he did Stephen in Acts 8. 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 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, and saying
in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecute you me? It is hard
for you to kick against the bricks. And I said, Who are you, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. But 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 have 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, 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. Whereupon,
O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, and
Paul does not does not with arrogance and pride make such a statement
as this. He said, The life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. Paul wouldn't dare celebrate
his own faith. He said, The faith of Jesus Christ
who loved me and gave himself for me. Verse 20, But showed
first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout
the coast 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. Having therefore
obtained help of God, 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. What did Paul testify
to? Verse 23, 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 spoke for himself,
Festus butts in and said with a loud voice, Paul, you're beside
yourself. I lost my place. You're besides
yourself. Much learning. Boy, I don't have
to worry about that one, do you? Much learning doth make you mad. But Paul said, I am not mad,
most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and
soberness. For the king, referring to Agrippa,
knows of these things, before whom also I speak freely. For
I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from King Agrippa,
for this thing was not done in a corner." King Agrippa, do you
believe the prophets? And without waiting for his reply,
I know that you believe. King Agrippa believed the prophecies
of the Old Testament concerning Christ. But he does not have
saving faith in Jesus Christ. Do you believe the prophets?
I know that you believe. Then Agrippus said unto Paul,
here is your almost Christian. Almost. You persuade me to be
a Christian. not quite, almost. 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 these bonds. We'll stop there
for our reading. I want to talk to you about the
almost Christian. The first thing I want to do
is take you to some Bible examples of persons of this description.
We begin in Matthew chapter 7. If you'll just put you something
here at Acts 26, we may or may not get back to that, but all
four of these illustrations are in the four Gospels. So if you'll
start with me in Matthew chapter 7, we will do as the Word of
God teaches us to do. If we are to understand any statement
in the Scripture, we are to let Scripture interpret Scripture. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 20
tells us that no Scripture is of any private interpretation. It does not mean that you cannot
interpret the Scriptures, but you must interpret this book
with this book. You cannot come to a statement
like Luke chapter 7 and verse 50 and do this number and that's
all you can see. This book is a book about Christ. I mean from Genesis all the way
to the end of Revelation. In the book of God, Christ is
everything. And here in Matthew 7, He's completing
what we've come to call the Sermon on the Mount. And in verses 21
through 23, Our Lord gives us three examples of almost Christian. Almost. Almost. Which one are you? Which one am I? Judas was almost a Christian,
but he wasn't one. Here are three examples in three
verses. Not everyone that says unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Being a believer is far more than saying words. It's far more than being baptized,
coming to the Lord's table. These things cannot save. Our
words cannot save. Christ alone must save. Lord, Lord. But he that does the will of
my Father which is in heaven And if I can translate it for
you briefly, the will of God is for poor sinners to put all
their trust, their hope, their expectation in the person, death,
blood, and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 22, Many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?
If you'll let me update that, have we not preached in your
name? Hey, being a preacher doesn't
mean you're saved. My soul, the easiest place in
the world to be lost is standing right here in these shoes. I
know. Oh, how well I know. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
or preached in your name? And in your name have cast out
devils? We've fought evil, smoking, drinking,
cussing, gambling, and all the rest. Staying open on Sunday,
we've fought all of it. And in your name done many wonderful
works. What's that hen guy's name? He
does miracles so fast you can't even keep up with him. Lost as
a jaybird. Wouldn't know God if he met him
in the middle of the road. The man is a charlatan. He's a thief. Done many wonderful works. Then will I profess unto them
Our Lord said, here's what I'm going to say to them on judgment
day. I never knew you. You said you knew me. I don't
know you. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. What on earth? Calling their
works. These are good works. calling
them works of iniquity. The only work a believer can
do that has any semblance of good is if it's done for the
glory of Jesus Christ alone. And even then, it's polluted
with enough sin that it must be washed in that precious fountain
filled with blood. All right, the second one is
in Mark chapter 10. I've just got to speed up. Y'all are not listening fast
enough. So Mark 10 has the account of the rich young ruler who comes
to our Lord Jesus, running, kneeling, and calling Him, Good Master.
Mark chapter 10, verse 17. And he says in verse 17, Good
Master, What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And
our Lord has a little conversation there with him about the word
good, that God alone is good. He calls him a human name, master. And in effect, the Lord Jesus
said, either call me good God or bad master. There is no such
thing as good in this human race except for the perfect humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not good and you're not good.
And the only way to be good is to be in Him who is alone good. So the Lord turns him then to
the Ten Commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and so forth.
And the man said in verse 20, Master, I've kept all these since
I was a type. You know, a young fellow, a whippersnapper.
And our Lord beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing
you lack. Now just between me and you,
he could have picked any one of these ten. Ah, but he just
picked one. This man happens to be rich. One thing you lack. Go your way,
sell whatsoever you have, and give it to the poor, and you
shall have treasure in heaven, and come take up your cross and
follow me." And the man left. Sorrowful. The almost Christian,
but not a Christian. All right, Mark chapter 12. This
time, verses 28 to 34, here's a scribe,
a man whose occupation was the laborious writing by hand, copying
the scriptures. This man knew the Old Testament
up one side and down the other, as we would say, but he doesn't
know God because he doesn't know Christ. You can't know God except
you know Him in the person of His Son. So this scribe hears
about the questions that the Pharisees and Sadducees and others
had brought to Christ. So in verse 28 he comes to the
Lord Jesus, Mark 12, 28, Which is the first commandment of all?
That is, what is the greatest commandment? Which is simply
another way of saying, what is the greatest sin? That's the
real question. And Jesus answered, the first
of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength. This is the first commandment.
love God perfectly. And the second is like, namely
this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other
commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to the Lord
Jesus, well, master, you have said the truth. You've told the
truth. For there is one God and none
other but He, and to love Him with all the heart, with all
the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength,
and to love His neighbor as Himself is more than all whole burnt
offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw, verse 34,
that he answered discreetly, honestly, truly, He said to him,
You are not far from the kingdom of God. Not far, my friend, but
not in. That's the almost Christian. Which one am I? Which one are
you? All right. One more. Luke chapter
18. Luke 18. Here's the parable of
the Pharisee and the publican in the temple. We've looked at
this umpteen times. I just want to introduce you
to a man who's almost a Christian. but not quite. Verse 9, Luke chapter 18, Our
Lord spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went
up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican,
that is, a Roman tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank you that I'm not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Boy, you see that precious letter?
It keeps coming up. It is that letter of all letters.
I, I, I, I, I. No, Christians say Him, not me. They talk about Christ, what
He's done, not what they've done for Him, what He's done for us. My soul, have you heard religious
people talk lately? They'll burn your ears off with
what they've done for God. Oh, my soul, salvation is knowing
what God's done for us in Christ. I fast twice in the week, give
tithes of all that I possess. And that poor publican, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner."
All right, I need you to turn to one more text. I've got more
than that, but that's all we're going to get to. Hebrews chapter
6. Here are some character descriptions of the almost Christians. Hebrews chapter 6, beginning at verse 4 and reading
through verse 6 in Hebrews chapter 6. Paul is talking about some persons
of whom he says, It is impossible for these people
to be restored again, to renew them, as he says in verse 6,
unto repentance. The sentence begins in verse
4, for it is impossible for the persons that are mentioned in
the interim statements in verse 6, if they shall fall away, it
is impossible to renew them unto repentance. Now, I assure you,
I tell you, I remind you, I insist upon this, that if God has saved
you, that salvation is forever and ever and ever and ever. It
doesn't have an ending. There is no such thing of believers
falling from grace. Now, don't misunderstand me.
There is such a thing as believers falling into sin. But you can't
fall from grace. You didn't fall in grace and
you can't fall out of it. We are not saved by virtue of
anything in ourselves. And nothing I do can remove me
from that almighty hand that holds me. Did you read that article
today by Maurice Montgomery on the back of the bulletin? He
said that's the only hope he had. His hope is not if I can
hold on. It's if Christ is holding me.
That's where it is. All right, Ephesians, Hebrews
chapter 6, verses 4 through 6. For it is impossible, and here's
the character description. Number one, for those who were
once enlightened, and this enlightenment of which the apostle speaks cannot
be the true illumination of the soul, but it must be a head knowledge
in religious and biblical things. Now, many people know the Bible
inside and out, and kibber to kibber, as we say, but that does
not mean that I know Christ. I used every day to memorize
a certain number of verses of Scripture, because I wanted to
be able to recall them at will. And I wished I had never done
that. Because I didn't have a Chinaman's idea of what those verses said. Oh, but I know the Bible. Yeah, but you're still lost.
And I was lost. I was a preacher, but I was lost. This enlightenment is only an
outer understanding of the Bible, not what it truly means. Anybody
with a good mind, with any, how far? Two or three grade education
can read the words in this book. Now, I know there's a few words
in here that's hard, but that's talking about people's names
and places and that kind of stuff. It's not hard to understand what
the book says literally. Oh, but what's impossible for
us, and only God can give this, is to understand its spiritual
message to the heart. You can't buy that, and a man
can't give that to anybody else. But I know this much. In Acts chapter 8, when Philip
ran up and joined himself to that fellow in that chariot heading
back from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, that eunuch, That guy was reading
Isaiah chapter 53, and you can't find a chapter in this book with
any more gospel than Isaiah 53. And Philip yelled at him and
said, Do you understand what you're reading? And that man
made a blessed and wonderful statement. He said, How can I
except some man tell me? And that, my friend, is how any
one of us can come to understand this book. God's not only got
to send you a preacher, a Philip, but He's got to send His Spirit
to open this book to your soul, to give you what you don't have,
a new heart and a new mind by which to love Christ and worship
Him. Impossible for those who were
once enlightened. This almost Christian is somebody
that's tasted the heavenly gift. Not eaten, mind you, just tasted.
You know, just sample the Bible a little bit here and there.
You know, a verse in the Psalms and one in some other place.
You know, just sampling. You know, we ain't eating, we're
just sampling. No, this book is the food of our souls. when
we come to know God in Jesus Christ. Thank God we don't have to have
a program to read your Bible. If the Lord gives you an appetite,
you'll satisfy it. And to do it artificially is
worthless, just plain worthless. When is the last time I told
you that you better quit missing church and be here every Sunday.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. When's the
last time I told you that? I ain't never told you that.
And I'm not planning to start now. You see, this almost Christian
is really a horrible fellow. He's not somebody we want to
be. But if God doesn't save us, I mean, if He doesn't come to
us, we ain't coming to Him. Well, let me just finish reading
this statement. I'll quit. It is impossible for those who were
once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and the powers
of the world to come, convinced that there is an eternity, there
is a judgment, there is such a thing as sin, if they shall
fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to
an open shame. Agrippa said, Paul, almost you
persuade me to be a Christian. Are you a Christian?