If you would please turn back
with me to the book of Acts, chapter 26. I want you, if you
would please, to look beginning with verse 15. I'd like to read
through verse 18. Verse 15 through 18. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. but rise and stand upon my 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 of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles
unto whom now I send thee. 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." I want
to speak this morning on the subject, the definition of a
Christian. the definition of a Christian. If you don't know what a Christian
is, then you listen this morning, and I believe that we'll be able
to tell you, and I trust that God will give you hearing ears,
receptive minds and hearts to receive what we have to say. The definition of a Christian. Now Paul was the king of preachers
and here in this portion of the Word of God, this chapter, this
26th chapter of the Book of Acts, we have him preaching to a king. He's the king of preachers and
he's preaching here to King Agrippa. I do not know whether King Agrippa
understood or realized the great act of mercy toward him that
God Almighty sent to him and allowing him to hear the king
of preachers preach the gospel. Do you suppose that he understood
what a tremendous act of mercy, what a great act of mercy this
was that God had crossed his path with the Apostle Paul and
with the message of the Gospel. I just wonder if Agrippa ever
realized what a momentous hour that was, what a tremendous hour
that was, when God Almighty, in His sovereign grace and mercy,
calls this preacher to come and to stand before Him, God in His
providence, set him there in His midst, to preach the gospel
to him. Beloved, it is a momentous and
eventful hour when God in grace crosses the path of any sinner. Remember that. It is indeed. Now, this is something that I
want you to take very seriously this morning. I thank God daily,
I must thank God daily, that He did not pass me by, that He
did not leave me alone, that He did not leave me in my sin
and unbelief. God could have passed me by.
He didn't have to save me. He didn't have to touch me. He
didn't have to come to me. He didn't have to bring me to
Him unto Himself. The Lord didn't have to do that.
It was in sovereign grace and mercy that the Lord did so. And so I say to you that many
this morning are left. Many are passed by. Many are
left in their blindness and unbelief. Their hearts are hardened more
and more until that time when they die and die on their sins
and they perish forever. Left alone to die and to perish
in their sin. God never having crossed their
path with a gospel preacher. God never having crossed their
path with a man who has a burden on his soul and who has God's
message in his heart to proclaim to their soul. I say it is a
momentous and eventful hour anytime that God in grace crosses the
path of a sinner. One day, and it was a glorious
day, and I have to praise God as I said and thank God day for
it. He crossed my path and he brought
me out. He brought me out of nature's
night. and to the light of the gospel
of his own precious son. And it was a glorious day indeed. And he showed me, he showed me,
the Lord was pleased to do it, that I was a failure, that I
had been a failure, that I was unable. in myself, to save myself. But the Lord also showed me that
Christ wasn't a failure, that He was not a failure. And the Lord showed me that Christ
came into this world, not merely to make an effort to save men,
but he actually accomplished the work that he came to do. That Jesus Christ actually came
into this world, and the mission that he came on was to save his
people from their sins, and Christ actually, sure enough, accomplished
that work. He was no failure. He did not
fail, thanks being to God. He came down here. He did not
come down to make an installment payment. on my salvation and
then said I'm going to leave the rest up to you. You pay the
rest of it. I'll make the first payment and
then you make the rest of the payment. No, no. No, no. He paid it all. All the debt
I owe, the Lord Jesus Christ paid that debt and he was no
failure. So what an hour, what a moment
it was when the Lord revealed those things to my heart and
my soul came to hope. in the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the all-sufficient Savior. Well, here Agrippa is listening
to the man of the hour. Here he is listening to the only
message that will save a sinner from his sins, the only message
that will bring a sinner into right standing before a holy
God. And this man has been sent of
God to deliver a message of grace and salvation. Now then, beloved,
think about this, if you will, this hour in which Paul is preaching
here to Agrippa. There are other people in the
Bible that had, I think, one of these eventful hours. Think of the woman at the well.
What an hour that was when she there was spoken to by our Lord,
and he gave her that living water. What an hour that was in her
life. And then think of the thief on the cross. Well, beloved,
you know the thief on the cross, he could have been crucified
a day earlier, he could have been crucified a month later,
he could have been, but God, in his wonderful mercy and providence,
in his predestinating purpose of grace, Ah beloved, he was
hung on a cross beside our master and to the end that he would
be saved, to the end that he would that very day be with the
Lord Jesus Christ in paradise. So what an hour it was when that
thief was taken out and nailed to that cross beside our master
and Lord. You see how important it is,
an hour when the Lord brings a man into a place where he can
be touched by the gospel and touched by his truth, God in
his wonderful mercy. Well, think of Zacchaeus. You
know, Zacchaeus could have been out collecting taxes in some
other area of the city. That day when the Lord Jesus
came and he heard that he was coming and he ran and climbed
up the sycamore tree so that he might see him, he could have
been off somewhere else. But oh, what an hour it was!
There's Zacchaeus, and there's the Lord Jesus, and Jesus says,
Zacchaeus, you come down today! Today I'm going to abide at your
house! This was indeed a momentous and
eventful hour in his life, and blind Bartimaeus You know, he
could have been home with a cold. He could have stayed home with
a cold that day. But no, there he was, on the
way, there he was along the lane, the path, where the Lord Jesus
was coming by. And someone told him, the Master's
coming by. And he cried out, he cried out,
have mercy on me! Have mercy on me! There he was,
there's the sinner, and there's the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and their paths cross. What a wonderful hour it is.
And so I must thank God that he had an hour in my own life,
when he touched my own heart, when he saved my own soul, and
God did not leave me to perish. God did not leave me in my sin.
God was pleased to come to me and affect and touch savingly
my heart. Do you and I realize this morning,
the blessedness of this hour. Do we realize how blessed this
hour is this morning? Do we realize the potential of
this hour? Do we realize the possibility,
the importance of this hour? This congregation, as it is this
morning, will never meet again in this world. Just as it is
this morning, we will never meet again. This hour that I'm talking
about is the hour in which we all participate here this morning. We're under the sound of the
gospel. We're hearing the word of God proclaimed. You will never,
we will never meet again just like we are today. You with the
same feelings of heart. You with the same emotions in
your heart as you have this morning. You this morning with the same
attitude that you have this morning. Oh, my friend, we must understand. Do you not realize the blessedness
and the potential of this hour? Oh, that we might redeem the
time, me with my tongue and you with your ear, for we're never
going to pass this way again. We're not coming this way again.
Agrippa, you better listen and you better listen now to the
Apostle Paul. You better hear what he's got
to say because you may never have another opportunity to hear
it again. Well, Paul preached here in the
presence of the king and he had one shot. at the king and he
aimed well, he aimed well my friend, he had one shot and he
put it right where, right at the bullseye. Now there are some
things in this chapter that just stands out to me about Paul's
preaching, let me point them out to you at this time. First
of all, I'd like to say that his preaching, Paul's preaching,
was very forceful, but it was courteous, very courteous. I see that, it's clear here.
Now there's some preachers that that they're like Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde. They seem to be very courteous
men when they're out, you know, visiting around, talking around
with people, but they get into the pulpit and they become Hyde
Rippers, as I call them, or they skin the people and pour salt
into the wounds. Well, I think that that's wrong. I don't think God called us to
be hide-rippers and skinners of people's hides and saltpores. I don't really believe that God
calls to that purpose. Now, I see in verse 2, listen
to Paul now, listen to him. I say that he was forceful, but
he was courteous. I think myself happy, King Agrippa,
because I shall answer for myself this day before be touching all
the things where I'm accused of the Jews." And then later
on here, he said, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophet? He
said, I know that thou believest. He said, I know that you're acquainted
with all of the questions and the answers concerning the various
religious situations of the Jews. Very courteous, but very forceful
in his preaching to this man. Now Paul's preaching was very
bold, but he was never rude. He was not rude. Paul was persuasive,
but he was never apologetic. Never was he apologetic. He said, I persuade men. He said, I am an ambassador for
Jesus Christ. And he said, I beseech you, be
you reconciled unto God. I pray you in Christ's stead,
be you reconciled unto God. He was not, I say, ever apologetic,
but he was very persuasive. And you remember Agrippa said,
Paul, you almost persuade me to be a Christian. Paul was indeed
persuasive. Paul again said, I beseech you
by the mercies of God that you be conformed to the mind of God. That was Paul's way. He was beseeching
men. He was persuasive. He was praying
men to be reconciled to God. And the other thing I noticed
in this chapter is that Paul spoke of himself He spoke of
himself, but never for himself. Now there's a difference in that.
And I think I can tell when a preacher is speaking for himself rather
than of himself. And here's Paul now. Paul speaks
of his experience. He talks about how that he was
born into this strict Pharisee religion and how he lived as
a Pharisee. And then he went on and talked
about his experience on the road to Damascus, how God had dealt
with him, how God revealed himself, how the living Christ revealed
himself unto him, and turned him about on the road to Damascus,
how the Lord mightily came and intervened in his life, And so
he spoke of himself, but not for himself. Now the Lord, in
verse 16, gave Paul a commission. He gave him a commission, and
look at it. But rise, he said. Now here's this man prostrate
at the feet of the resurrected Christ. Jesus is speaking to
him. And he says, you rise and stand
upon your feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose. I
have appeared unto thee for this purpose. Remember that the God
of the Bible is a God of purpose. Everything he does, he does on
purpose. He does nothing by accident,
and never is he, in just the spur of the moment, out doing
something, working in the affairs of men. God does what he does,
he does it on purpose. And he does it because he purposed
it from all eternity. This man was a chosen vessel
unto Almighty God to bear witness for him. Now he says, for this
purpose to make thee a minister. Now beloved, we don't make men
ministers. You cannot make a minister out
of a man. Now you may try it. You may try
it. Seminaries try it. Bible schools
try it. But you cannot make a minister
out of a man. Only God can make a minister
out of a man. Only God is able to do that.
Now notice this commission that our Lord gave to the Apostle
Paul. It was a two-fold commission. And we see it here in this 16th
verse. He says this, he says, I want
to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which thou
hast seen. Of these things which thou hast
seen. Now Paul was to be a witness
of what God had revealed to his heart. What God had shown him. And you know what God had chiefly
shown him was that Jesus Christ that he was no imposter and fake
while he lived in this world and that when he was crucified
that truly Jesus had been raised from the dead and that Jesus
had ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand
of God and he had appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus
and spoke to him and said, I am Jesus whom you prosecute. I am Jesus. So what he had seen
was the risen Christ, the living Christ. Beloved, it makes all
the difference in the world if Jesus is alive, if he's alive. If he is alive, and blessed be
God he is alive, seated at the right hand of God to give repentance
and remission of sins to everyone that was given to him in the
covenant of grace. Everyone for whom he provided
eternal redemption when he was in this world on a glory tree.
Now listen to me, this is very important. Jesus is alive and
he's at God's right hand. Now you cannot tell what you
do not know. You cannot tell what is not revealed
to you. Illumination is what we're talking
about. Paul knew some things because
of what God had revealed to him. And there's things that just
fell out to him and was revealed to him in this hour when he heard
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot tell what you do not
know any more than you can come back from some place you haven't
been. And this has been the trouble
for years in the professing churches of the land. Men in teaching
and preaching positions who've never seen anything. They've
never seen anything that was miraculous. They never have seen
the truth of God's grace in His Word. They've never seen the
glorious truth of God in the saving of sinners. They just
cannot tell what they've never seen. But this commission was,
Paul, you're going to tell what you've seen. Now Paul knew what
he was talking about. He knew what he was talking about.
He knew what he had been. He knew what happened to him
on the road to Damascus. And he knew what he had become
in and through the power of God in his life. He knew what had
happened to him. He had seen enough to know some
things for sure in his life. Now God, listen to me this morning. Have we seen anything that's
made a difference in our lives? Has God been pleased to reveal,
show us anything that has made a real difference in our lives? Let me just try to stimulate
your mind, if I can, to thinking a little bit about what you have
seen. Now listen to me. God is sovereign
on a throne or someone else is, who is it that's on a throne?
Have you seen enough? in your life, in your religious
experience, in your study of the Word of God, in your listening
to what men have preached to you, have you seen enough to
know the answer to that question? Well listen to me, God is sovereign
on a throne, or someone else is on the throne. Who is it?
Well, I choose to believe and I think you do too. That is,
if you've heard anything. That is, if you've seen anything.
That is, if you've been illuminated by the Spirit of God to know
that a sovereign God is on the throne. And another thing is
this. The sinner is either dead or
he's not. Which is it? Have you seen enough
to know the answer to that? Have you seen enough to come
out and say, well, I know right where I stand. The sinner is
either dead or he isn't. The sinner is dead. He's dead. He's not partially dead. He is
altogether dead. He is either dead or he isn't.
You can't be slightly dead. And the Armenians have the sinner
slightly dead. And only, only, my friend, when
you understand what the Word of God teaches and God by His
Spirit teaches your heart, can you see that the sinner is truly
dead in sin and he never lives until God quickens him by His
Divine Spirit. Now listen to me, you're either
in Christ or you're out of Christ. Which is it? Is that true of
all mankind? Listen, there is a portion of
mankind that is in the Lord Jesus Christ from eternity, from the
day of election, from the hour that God set his loving affection
upon them. There is a portion of mankind
that is in Christ, and all the rest are outside of Christ, are
outside of him. Well, which is it? Is it true? Is this true or not? Or is the
Lord, is He out here trying, as it were, to fit everybody
into Christ, but He's not able to do so? No, those that are
in Him were chosen in Him from before the foundation of the
world. Now, if men come to Christ, and we all hear a lot of talk
about people coming to Christ, And we hear it among the Armenians
a great deal, they put a lot of pressure on people, they have
the invitational hymn, and they stress coming down the aisle,
coming to a mourner's bench, coming to Christ. But now listen
to me, if men come to Christ, they either bring themselves,
or God brings them. Which is it? Have you seen enough
to answer that question? Have you seen enough in the Word
of God, in the truth of the Bible, to answer that question? Well,
beloved, I think that the Scriptures are clear on it, that no man
can come to the Father except the Spirit draw him. Except the Father draw the sinner,
he cannot come to Christ. Now, so you see what I'm talking
about when I'm talking about some preachers, they have never
seen anything and that's the trouble in the churches. They've
never been able to see these precious truths. Now, another
thing is this. All God's people will persevere
or none of them will. Which is it? Which is it? Well, beloved, I've seen enough
in the Word of God through plain scripture, through the study,
just the surface study and reading of the Word of God to know that
God's people will never perish, that the Lord will not forsake
His people, that the saints are preserved forever, and that God
will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, that all
of the saints of God will persevere, and not one of them will be lost.
Have you seen anything? Have you seen anything? Do you
know anything? Can you tell anybody anything? The Lord said, Paul, I'm going
to send you out here to be a witness of the things which you've seen.
And I hope you've seen something. Because if you've seen something,
then you've got something to say. You've got something to
tell people. These things that we've discussed
with you have to be known, they have to be decided on the basis
of thus saith the Lord. And if you know the word of God,
if God has taught you from his word, then you know these things. I thank God for the day when
I met these questions head on. Head on! Met these questions
and they were settled in my heart and settled forever. These are
settled things with me. They're settled. I've seen these
things, and brother, there ain't nobody gonna talk me out of it.
As long as I live, I'm gonna be talking about what I've seen
in this book. And these are the things that
have come and lived. They've been made alive to me.
Now the second thing, notice here in verse 16, he says, "...and
of those things of which I will appear unto thee." Now what does
that mean? Well the Lord says here, what
he's saying is, he says the things that I will reveal unto you and
teach you as you go along. You're going to be a minister
and a witness of what you've seen and the things that you're
going to keep learning that I'm going to reveal to you as you
go along. That's what you're going to do.
So that's a two-fold commission, a two-fold ministry. Now that's
all a preacher can do. That's all he can do. That's
all that he has to preach. It's what he's seen and what
God continues to teach him and reveal to him. Now then, we cannot
go beyond that, and we must not go beyond that, and if a preacher
goes beyond that, then, brother, sister, he's going to get a lot
of people in trouble when he goes beyond what he's seen, and
when he goes beyond what the Lord has taught him and revealed
to him. Now in verse 17, God tells Paul,
look at it here, he said, I'm going to deliver you. Paul, I'm
sure, he began to get concerned about this, and if he wasn't
concerned about it right now, he was soon to be. But the Lord
had told him, Paul, I'm going to deliver you from the people,
from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. In this very chapter,
Paul talked about how that man threatened to kill him. They
threatened to kill him. And so he was in danger of those
to whom he was ministering. But the Lord said, I'm going
to deliver you, Paul. I'm going to deliver you. And
no man's going to sit on you to hurt you. I'm going to deliver
you. Now then, in verse 18, In verse 18, he gives us a definition
here of the task that Paul has, the ministry which Paul has.
He gives him a definition of that, and in the doing so, at
the same time, here he gives us a definition of a Christian. A definition of a Christian.
He said, I will send you, first of all, to open their eyes. Paul, your eyes have been opened. Now I will use you as an instrument
in the opening of the eyes of others. First of all then, take
notice of this, that a Christian is someone whose eyes have been
opened. Someone whose eyes have been
opened. They have been opened to see
themselves who they are. They have been open to see what
they are, to see themselves as sinners before God, to see themselves
as undone, as unclean, having been born of a woman, unclean,
in need, in need, in desperate need of the salvation of our
Lord. To see themselves like they are,
to see God, who He is, and to see His holiness and His justice,
to see Christ as Master, Lord, Savior, to see His sufficiency
to save their souls. Believers, Christians, have had
their eyes opened. I've seen enough to convince
me that I need mercy. Have you? Have you? I've seen
enough to convince me that I need help, that I need help. I've
seen enough to convince me that I need His grace. I need His
grace. I'm in definite need of His grace. I've seen enough to convince
me that the only one who can help me, the only one that has
an answer to my soul's problems, the only one who can come and
draw near and come where I am, Because you see, I've got to
come in my true character to the Lord. I cannot come in some
fictitious character. I must come as I am to the Lord. I have no way of bettering myself
to come to the Lord. I've got to come in my true character.
And I've lived long enough, I've seen enough to know that only
Jesus Christ can come to me where I am. Only He can come down where
I am and deal with my case. I've seen enough to convince
me that only in Christ will I find what God demands of me. I'm not going to find it anywhere
else. I'll never find it looking inside into my own heart, I'll
never find it. I'll never find it through much
self-sacrifice And through subjecting myself to rigorous religious
training, I'll never find it. I'll never find it by submitting
myself unto the opinions and philosophies of men as they would
direct me onto some course of action that maybe would bring
me to the place where I might be able to please God. No. No,
no. I'll never find it there. The
only way that I will ever find what I need to please God and
what God demands of me, the only place I'll ever find it is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only place. And sister,
brother, listen, friend of mine, you'll never find it anywhere
else but right there. Everything God demands of us,
He provides for us in the person of His Son. Do you have Jesus
Christ? Do you know Him? Did you know
that a man has to be perfect to go to heaven? Did you know
that? Did anybody tell you that? Did
you ever hear that before? Do you know that you must be
as perfect as God? that you must be as holy as God,
that you must be as righteous as God, that you must be as justified
as God, and listen to me, you must be as free from sin as God
is in order to go to heaven. You say, well preacher, I don't
know anyone like that. I've never met anybody that was
like that. Well, no beloved, there's nobody
in the flesh. There's nobody in religion. There's
nobody in the ordinances. There's no one in the law. But
in Christ. In Christ. Hear me now. I'm telling
you the truth. I'm preaching the gospel to you
in Christ. Everybody is that way. Is that
right? Everybody is that way in Christ. In Christ, we're as
near to God as Jesus is. With his holy garment on, we're
as holy as the Holy One. We're righteous in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I say that everybody in Christ
is perfect. They are spotless and they're
going to heaven. In Christ, there is no sin. There
is no sin in Christ, and there is no condemnation, there is
no judgment, and listen to me, there is no charge made to those
that are in Christ. Because Christ fulfilled the
law, He imputed to me a perfect law of righteousness before God,
and I am as holy and as righteous as Jesus Christ is. Now in Christ,
that is so. Now we're perfect in Him, holy,
Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, and without blame before Him in love,
having been chosen in Him before the foundation of the world in
holy election. Now if this was not true, then
God would not love any of us. If this was not true, God would
not accept any of us. If this was not true, God would
not look upon any of us. He would have nothing to do whatsoever
with any son of Adam if it was not so that in the substitute
we are perfect and righteous as God is. You can't go to heaven
unless you're just as righteous and holy and without sin as God
is. And only in Christ do we have
that position. Salvation is not in a profession. We've said it a million times.
It is in a person. It's through a living union with
a person. It's through being married to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is in a person. Christ
is my salvation. I've already died. I have already
went to hell. I have already paid for my sin
in Jesus Christ. It happened on Calvary's cross
and everything necessary to save a poor sinner has already happened
outside himself. It has happened in Christ on
that glory tree outside the city of Jerusalem. That's where it
happens. Everything to save you. You say, well preacher, I've
been working at this thing for years. I thought that it had
something to do with what I did or did not do. My friend, let
me tell you this. If you don't get past that, if
you don't get past that, listen, your eyes are not open yet. Your
eyes are not open. We've already died, we've already
went to hell in Christ! Because He did, He died. He's
our substitute, and He died in our place! He went to hell for
us! He bore our burden in His own
body on the tree. Now listen, this is the first
definition of a Christian. Their eyes have been opened to
see this, that Jesus Christ is salvation, that salvation is
in Him. Now then, second thing, and I
must hurry here, is that in the believer, we take note here of
what Paul was to do, was he was to turn people from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Now what this
spells out is that under the gospel message and
through the power of God. A radical, real change. Now the believer has not only
been turned in knowledge with illumination, open eyes, but
also he has been turned in experience. Now I want you to turn with me
to the book of 2nd Corinthians. You that have a Bible, just turn
with me to the book of 2nd Corinthians. You need to learn how to use
the Word of God. You need to turn in your Bible
to these references. Now look at verse 17 of 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5. Therefore, Paul says, and when
that word is used, therefore you ought to look to see what
it's there for. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Now what it says, he
is a new creature. We are not Christian in creed
only, but in deed. Not ought to be a new creature. Not may be a new creature. Not going to be. He is a new
creature if he's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And all things
are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new in the life. All things. Now, the believer
is a changed man. His actions are changed, His
attitude is changed, His manners are changed, and His motive is
changed. He is a changed person. He's been turned from darkness
to light. Power of Satan unto God Almighty. Now God not only imputes to His
people a perfect righteousness, as I suggested a few moments
ago, but he also has imparted unto us a principle of righteousness
in the soul which enables us to turn from sin unto the ways
of God. He imparts a nature, a new nature
in us. And that is that divine nature.
That's the nature of God. That's the seed of God which
cannot sin. That's God's own nature he puts
in a man. And you just feel different about
sin. Feel different about the world.
Feel different about the things of time. You feel different because
God's put his own nature in you. And you have the mind of Christ.
You begin to think like Christ. And it's not always whether somebody
can prove that something's right or wrong. You just know whether
something's right or something's wrong. God's put a new nature
in you. His own nature. You've put on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn to Galatians 5. Galatians
5. And let's look here, beginning
with verse 19. And here it is spelled out. very
clearly about this radical difference and change that takes place in
the believer, turning from darkness to light, power of Satan into
God. Now the works of the flesh in
verse 19 of Galatians 5 are manifest, read about them in the newspaper,
we hear about them all the time. which are these, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
endings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of
which I tell you before, as I've told you in time past, that if
an individual is not turned from this, and from this way as a
habitual way of life, if he's not turned by the power of God
from this darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto
God, that they are not going to inherit the Kingdom of God
unless something takes place in their life, unless there's
a radical change in their life. Now listen to me, but the fruit
of the Spirit In verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and
temperance. And anything that the Holy Spirit
of God, which has quickened the soul, and which has come in to
abide in the heart of a believer, anything He leads a believer
to do, anything that He puts in as a fruit, into the life
of the believer. There is no law against it. Not even the holy law of God.
Look up in verse 18. But if you be led of the Spirit,
you're not under the law. You're not under the law. There's
another Spirit. That is the Spirit of God. The
Spirit of God is in the believer. He's not under that Spirit of
law. labor unto God, but it is the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God working in the believer, giving
him a nature like God's that loves the things of God and moves
him toward God. You can whip a man with the commandments
all you want to and it'll never make him do right, but when God
puts his spirit in a man and puts his nature in a man, ah,
then there's a different man. There's a different There's a
man that's different because he's had this radical change.
He's been turned, don't you see? God's done something in him to
make a difference, to make this great difference. Now then, if
you live in the Spirit, then walk in the Spirit. So then,
these people have had a radical change. Now a preacher does not
have to browbeat, club people over the head, whip them with
statutes and commandments, in order, he doesn't have to whip
a saved church. No he don't. No he don't. Because
he doesn't have to whip them and browbeat them to get them
to love God and love one another. He does not have to whip them
or browbeat them to get them to be generous. No, no, no. To get them, listen, to attend
the house of God and to pray and to bear witness? No! If they
are alive in the Lord, then, beloved, they are a Christian
and they're going to do these things. These things they're
going to do. And you're not going to have
to drive them to do it. And if you have to drive them
to do it, it's because they're unconverted. They're just not
God's people. And that's what the truth is.
That, my friend, is the second definition of a Christian. They
have experienced a real change. Now we must hurry. Let's go on
to the third definition. There's about five things here
and I'm going to hurry now, I'm not going to be long. The third
definition of a Christian is, Paul said this, or the Lord said
this to Paul in giving him this commission, that they may receive,
notice it, forgiveness of sins. That they may receive forgiveness
of sins. Now our acts or what we do in
our lives are the result of our nature. A dog is not a dog because
he barks. A dog barks because he's a dog. And we sin because our nature
is bad. We were born with a sinful nature,
a corrupt nature. Man's not a thief because he
steals. He steals because his nature
is to be a thief. It's in his nature to be a thinker.
And so therefore he steals. Now listen to me. What a wonderful
thing it is. We were born sinners. By nature
we are one. By choice we were one. And by
practice. Oh, that was our profession.
We were practicing sinners. Weren't we? Practicing sinners. Now hear me. But here's what
the songwriter said about a believer. He said, My sin, O the bliss
of that glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole,
are nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. I bear it
no more. The believer, the Christian,
is somebody who's forgiven. God has forgiven their sin. Turn
with me back to the book of Micah chapter 7. The book of Micah
chapter 7, I want to read verse 18 and verse 19. Who is a God
likened to thee that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will
turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities and thou will cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. You'll cast all their sins into
the depths of the sea. Brother, sister, that's good
news, is it not? Is it not good news? This is
comforting, and this is reassuring. This gives me confidence that
I can know that all of my sins, past, present, and are you strong
enough to take this? Future sins are all passed into
the depth of the sea. Our sins are all forgiven. They're
all under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the hymn
writer said, I am safe in the shepherd's fold. Under the blood
of Jesus, I am safe while the ages roll. Safe Though the world
may crumble, safe though the stars grow dim, safe under the
blood of Christ, Almighty God cannot see a one of my sins. We're safe. All of our sins are
forgiven. They're all under the blood.
I'm talking about a believer. I'm talking about a Christian.
That's what a Christian is. Somebody whose sins have been
put away. God will not remember my sins.
The sins, their sins and iniquities, Hebrews says, also says this
over in the book of Jeremiah, will I not remember anymore? I'll remember no more. Their
sins and their iniquities, I will remember no more. I'm clean in
His eyes. I quoted this verse a while ago. Holy and without
blame before Him in love. That's where we stand before
God Almighty. Alright, now the fourth thing
is this. They have an inheritance. God's people have an inheritance. An inheritance among them which
are set apart by faith. We have an inheritance. You know
we reflect too much on how poor we are. Most of us are poor and
we're going to get poorer. There's no question about that.
I don't think there's any question about it. I can't see anything. We were talking about that the
other day. Just doesn't seem to be any other way out of it.
That's the way it's going to happen. Now listen to me, but
we reflect too much on it. The believer has an inheritance.
He has, and a Christian, if somebody thought, turn to Revelation chapter
21. Revelation chapter 21. This just blessed me, and I just
want to read it to you. Just listen to this, and I'm
going to be done here a minute. So you just bear with me. Revelation
21 beginning with verse 1, let me just read. And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw
the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for a husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write,
for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me,
It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
the thirst of the fountain of the water of life. He that overcometh
shall inherit. Shall inherit all things and
I will be his God and he shall be my son our overcoming is in
the overcomer who overcame the Lord Jesus Christ is the overcomer
and we overcome in him and the Lord said I will be his God he
will inherit all things and I'll be his God and he shall be my
son sounds to me like that we're in for quite an eternity We're
going to inherit all things. All things. That's a blessed,
blessed truth indeed. Now then, we're told in the book
of 1 Peter chapter 3, I think it is, and verse 9, that we've
been called that we should inherit a blessing. And in 1 Peter chapter
1, turn back there with me if you will. 1 Peter chapter 1 and
look at this. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 and
4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." Reserved
in heaven. for you. There it is. God's people,
Christians, are people that have an inheritance. That's why they
don't take it so bad that things are not always so with them as
it is with the world. Now then, I'm looking forward
to that, but where I am right now, God made me. What I have, God gave me. What I know, God taught me. And what I will be is by His
grace. I'm looking for that inheritance.
This is my position now, just as I've described it. Listen,
you call it what you want. Say, preacher, you know it sounds
to me like that there's a little fatalism mixed in with your preaching
and it sounds to me like there's a whole lot of hyper-Calvinism
in your preaching. Well, you just call it whatever
you want to, but I agree with Charles Spurgeon. Charles Spurgeon
said this, he said, my whole theology is wrapped up in five
words. Five words. Salvation is of the
Lord. It's all right there. It's from
the beginning to the end. It's wrapped up right there.
From the new birth all the way to the inheritance, all wrapped
up right there. Salvation is of the Lord. And that's my theology. You say,
Preacher, that's simple. It is simple, but you just mark
it down. And if you can fit your theology
into that, then I think you're a pretty good theologian yourself.
Listen, if a man goes to hell, it's his own fault. If anybody
goes to heaven, it's God that gets the glory and the credit,
is that right? It's God that gets the glory, it's God that
gets the praise. Now the last thing is this, and
we see it here in this 18th verse there of Acts, and we'll hurry
on here to a conclusion and finish up our message. It says that
the believer, the last mark of the believer is We see that their
eyes are open. We see that there are new creatures
in Christ. We see their sins are forgiven.
We see that they have an inheritance. They're heirs of God. And then
the last thing is that they are set apart. This word sanctified
here says that they are set apart by faith. By faith. They're set apart by faith. Now listen. This is what distinguishes
between A whirling sinner and a living member of the family
of God is faith. Faith. Now listen to me. The
Bible says in the book of Nahum chapter 1 and verse 7, the Lord
is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth
them that trust in him. Now I want you to turn to Romans
4, let's read here a couple of verses about Abraham, who was
the father of the faithful. Romans chapter 4, begin with
verse 20. He staggered not, that is Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
he was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Whatever God told
him, he was persuaded that he could perform. and therefore
it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. And so believers are with Abraham,
Abraham the father of the faithful, Abraham believed God and all
those that are in Christ have the faith of Abraham, they believe
that what God promises He can perform, and they believe that
to the salvation, to the saving of their souls. Now listen to
me, I ask the question, are you able to believe? Are you able
to believe on Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead?
Are you able to believe God? Are you able to trust God? Now
this is what sets the family, the living family of God, apart
from the world. This is God's mark on His own. Faith, this is the gift of God
and God gives it to anybody and He gives it to everybody that
He has anything to do with. That's right. He gives it to
us. God has nothing to do with anybody that don't believe Him,
don't trust Him. You can't please God without
faith. You can't be saved apart from faith. God must give that
faith. He gives that when He gives you
His Son. Faith is the effects of the new
birth. Faith don't cause a new birth. Faith is the effects of it. If
God makes you alive, then you're going to have faith. You're going
to have it. You're going to believe. This
is what, listen, the Bible says the just, it says it four times
over, the just shall live by faith. That's how they live. And so this is the fifth definition
of a Christian. You say, well most preachers
would have started with that first. I know they would. But you see
there's a whole lot more that takes place before that. I mean,
you've got to have these other things that we've mentioned here
this morning. Faith is something that all God's
children have. Somebody said, well, you know,
I just, you know, just looking for somebody that's got faith.
Well, if you find them, you're going to find a Christian. Christian
is somebody that believes God. Trust God. They live by what
they believe, not by what they see. Not what they believe. Say, well, I don't know what
moves and what motivates these people. Well, it's what they
believe. That's what moves them. It's
what they believe. Say, they're peculiar. Yeah,
they are, but it's what they believe that causes it. They
believe God. They trust God. They depend on
God. Well, I think this has been simple. I don't know. I think
it could be helpful. If somebody just, you know, is
interested, if somebody's got a heart for it. I said this could
be a momentous hour, and I believe it has been, very eventful, potential,
the potential of the hour that's just passed. If you heard from
God, if God crossed your path, if the Lord spoke to you this
morning, if He gave you the gift of faith, if you're able to enter
in and to believe what was preached, glory, glory, Praise be unto
God. Well, let's have a song in closing.