Let's turn again to Acts chapter
26. Acts chapter 26. And as I usually do, I take my
title from a verse. And today that will be verse
26. Acts 26 verse 26. This is Paul before King Agrippa. And he said, The king knoweth
of these things before whom I speak freely, and I'm persuaded that
none of these things are hidden from thee, because this thing,
this thing of Christ crucified, this thing of Christ dying instead
of his people, this thing of Christ being raised from the
dead was not done in a corner. Now what's he saying there? This
thing was not done in a corner. He's saying the ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ was a public ministry. It wasn't secret. It was a public ministry. It
was not done in secret, but openly before all men. Now that the
Lord Jesus Christ did speak privately to his disciples, but he told
them to preach what he told them upon the housetop. Remember,
I wrote it down here, Matthew 10, 27. He said, what I tell
you in darkness, that speak in light, and what you hear in the
ear, preach it upon the housetop. This thing wasn't done in a corner,
nor is it made to be kept in a corner. Our Lord said, go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, everyone. His miracles of the Lord Jesus
Christ done were before hundreds and even thousands of people.
He fed them and cared for them. His teachings were well documented
and recorded and preserved for us. We have his word in our hand,
the word of God. His death was public. openly displayed before men.
He wasn't crucified over here in a corner, but out here on
Mount Calvary. So all could see that he really
died. So this thing was done openly
and publicly, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even
in his resurrection from the dead was well documented and
attested attested fact by 500 brethren at one time and all
the apostles he appeared to them but 500 brethren at one time
they witnessed the resurrected glorified Lord Jesus Christ yet
knowing these things to be true is as he says there to the king
he said You know these things, you know these things to be so.
The king knoweth these things, before whom also I speak freely. Key and grippy, you know about
Jesus Christ crucified. You know about his resurrection.
Yet knowing these things to be true and even acknowledging these
things to be correct and factual does not mean that we know and
believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul of Tarsus
knew those things too, didn't he? But he hated the Lord Jesus
Christ until he met him. For the salvation of the Lord
is a revelation of his person unto our heart and soul. Saving
faith has to do with trusting him for all of our salvation. Saul of Tarsus knew everything
about Jesus of Nazareth, his crucifixion, his resurrection. He knew all those things. He
knew those facts, yet he didn't know the gospel. Saving faith
has to do with us trusting him as he is for all of our salvation. And this comes by the revelation
of God. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, even so, father,
for so it seemed good in your sight. You can be religious all
your life, just like Saul of Tarsus said he was. From my youth,
I observed all these things in the law. But he said, I didn't
know God. Saul of Tarsus was very religious,
very religious man. born into religion as it says
over here in verse excuse me verse four and five he said you
know the matter they know the matter of my life from my youth
which was at first among my own nation at jerusalem know all
the jews which knew me before the beginning if they would testify
that after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived
a Pharisee. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a
Pharisee of Pharisees. He was a very zealous religious
man, zealous of the tradition of his fathers. But he was a
lost religious man until he met the Lord Jesus Christ and was
given life and salvation in him. He writes about it over here
in Galatians chapter 1 if you want to turn with me. Galatians
chapter 1. He says in verse 13 in Galatians
chapter one, he said, you've heard of my conversation in time
past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure, I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. And I profited in the Jews
religion above many of my equals being in my own nation, being
more exceeding zealous of the tradition of my fathers. But
when it pleased God. who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in me, that
I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood." He was zealous of tradition, but
he didn't know the truth, how God saves sinners. When God taught
him the gospel, you remember he said, I count all things now.
One time those things were gained to me, He says, I count them all but
lost that I might win Christ for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I suffered loss of all things
and count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found
in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that
which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which
is of God by faith. flipping three, seven through
nine. So you can be very religious
and very zealous and yet not know God in saving mercy in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Like Paul, I was raised up in
false religion. And I didn't know God in saving
mercy until he sent me a gospel preacher to tell me the truth. And God, the Holy Spirit, revealed
the gospel unto me. Paul says later on, he says,
I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed. For the witch cause, also I suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed.
This is his words from prison while he in Rome. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed for I know whom I have believed." He met the
Savior. "...and I'm persuaded that he
is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day." My pastor used to always say this, and I know it so. What you believe is determined
by who you believe. What you believe is determined
by who you believe. Our Lord said in John 17, this
is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God,
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. That's eternal life. Saul
of Tarsus was very religious, wasn't he? He was lost until
he met the true and living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. John writes
about it this way, and we know that the Son of God has come
and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true and we're in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God And this
is eternal life. It's knowing God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as Paul stands before this
King Agrippa, he tells him what he knows about God saving sinners
through the Lord Jesus Christ and how the Lord saved him by
the grace of God. He says, I thought to do many
things contrary to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ until I
met him. And when I met him, he put me
in the dust and taught me the gospel. You have to be quickened
who were dead. And he said, now, King Agrippa,
I'm a blessed man. I may be in change before you,
but I'm a blessed man in God. I thought about this. What a
privilege God gave these men. Felix heard the apostle Paul
preach. Hephaestus heard the Apostle
Paul preach. King Agrippa heard the gospel
from the lips of this man, the Apostle Paul. And yet, they turned
and walked away. You almost persuaded me to be
a Christian. You remember what Felix said?
He said, you go away right now. When I have time, a convenient
season, I'll call for you again. But he never did, not in saving
mercy, in saving grace. I thought about this. What a
privilege God has given unto us to hear the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ from his servants. You think of the outstanding
men that have stood in this pulpit and declared the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Scott Richardson, Henry Mahan,
Maurice Montgomery, Brother Fortner, all these men are gone now. But
what a privilege God has given to his people to hear some of
the most outstanding preachers of our day right here in Zebulun. Blessed of God. We are blessed
of God in a great way to hear the Word of God. It is by the
means that God has ordained and chosen TO CALL OUT HIS PEOPLE
THROUGH THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. THROUGH THE PREACHING
OF THE GOSPEL. WE STUDY THAT IN 1 CORINTHIANS
CHAPTER 1. REMEMBER, WHEN IT PLEASED GOD, WHEN IT PLEASED
GOD, IT PLEASED GOD THROUGH THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING TO CALL
OUT HIS PEOPLE. FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING
BY THE WORD OF THE LORD. I WANT TO CONCENTRATE THIS MORNING
ON WHAT IT SAID DOWN IN VERSE 18. THE LORD SAID, to Saul of
Tarsus. He said, for this purpose of
God's grace and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, I made
you a minister and a witness to send you to preach the gospel.
And Paul said, I'm determined to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ and him crucified. When Paul writes about his ministry,
he says this, wherefore I was made a minister according to
the gift of the grace of God by the effectual working of his
power unto me who am less than the least of all the saints is
this grace given that I should preach among the Gentile the
unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made a minister
of the gospel. Verse 17, delivering thee from
the Jews and from the Gentiles unto whom I now send thee to
do what? Open their eyes, verse 18. He
mentions five things right here, to open their eyes, to turn them
from darkness to light, the power of satan and the god that they
may receive the forgiveness of sin and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith which is in me. Now when I read
that I thought of these words that we read earlier. Our lord
said this in luke 4 18 the spirit of the lord is upon me because
he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised. That's what the gospel does.
That was the message of the Apostle Paul, to preach the gospel of
the grace of God. Now let's look at these five
things that are mentioned in verse 18, to open their eyes. Now who needs eyes to be opened? Those who are blind. Blind Bartimaeus,
sitting on the wayside begging, he said, Lord, when the Lord
asked him, what do you need? Lord, that my eyes may be open.
Blind men need their eyes open. We are all by nature in birth,
blinded by sin, born that way, blind in darkness, unable to
see, unable to understand the truth of God until God in mercy
opens our eyes. Opens our eyes to see Him who
is God our Savior. Now turn to the book of Ephesians. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
God must open our eyes because by nature we're blind. We don't
see the truth. We don't understand the truth.
Ephesians chapter 1, look at verse 17. That God that the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saint and what is exceeding
greatness of his power to us were to believe according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand
in heavenly places. God must give us eyes to see
him. You have thee quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. Ephesians chapter 4, turn over
there. Verse 17, this I say therefore,
and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles in the vanity of their minds, having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of your heart. But now, God, who was in mercy,
rich in mercy, turned to Ephesians chapter 2, back to chapter 2.
God, who was rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, blind and dead, But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with him, having forgiven
you all your sin, and raised us up together and made us sit
together in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. But God,
God raised us from the dead. Now, this is why the Lord says
in Nicodemus, except a man is born again, He cannot see the
kingdom of God. He cannot understand and see
the kingdom of God. He cannot enter into the kingdom
of God unless he's born again and sees and understands to believe
the gospel. In the book of Job, Job writes
this. In the last chapter of that book,
he said, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now
mine eye seeth thee Wherefore, I abhor myself. I repent in dust
and ashes. Old Saul of Tarsus had a high
opinion of himself and very low opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ
until the Lord saved him. After the Lord saved him, he
had a very high opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, he's
God, my savior. He's God, my righteousness. And
he had a very low opinion of himself. He says, O wretched
man that I am. He said that I'm the chief of
sinners, less than the least of all the saints. That's how
a man knows that he has seen and his eyes have been opened.
He sees God in his character, and when he sees God in his character
as holy and righteous, we see ourselves as sinners. And that's
what the gospel does. He sends out gospel preachers
to preach the word and God takes that word to open your eyes.
To give you an understanding and a heart to believe the gospel.
Second thing he says there, and to turn them. When your eyes
are opened, you turn. You turn to God from your idols. Turn them from darkness, blindness,
to light. He is our light. And to turn
us from the power of Satan unto God, unto the power of Almighty
God. To turn them from darkness to
light. Look down here at verse 20. The
last part of verse 20. And then to the Gentiles that
they should repent and turn to God and do works meet or fit
for repentance. Turn them to God from our idols. That's what repentance is. It's
a turning unto God. Find 1 Thessalonians chapter
1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. They themselves, verse 9, show
of us what manner of entering we had unto you, how you turn
to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait
for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even
Jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come. He turns us to
God from our idols. Now notice it doesn't say we
turn from our idols although that's true but he says here
you turn to God or God turns you And in turning to him, you
turn away from your idols. We studied in the book of Psalms,
Psalm 80, where David said, Turn us, O God, and cause thy face
to shine upon us. and we shall be saved. Turn us. Grant us repentance, Lord. Give
us faith. Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 23 in Acts 26. That Christ should suffer. This
is what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that
Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should
rise from the dead and to show light unto the people and to
the Gentiles. Turn to light. Christ is that light. We were
born in darkness, loving darkness, hating God, loving our sin, hating
God until God is pleased to turn on the light. And when he turned
on the light, we see him. Our Lord said in John 8, Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. You remember this verse in our study, 2 Corinthians chapter
4? We were blind, and he gives us
eyes to see him. We were in darkness, and he turned
on the light. Notice 2 Corinthians 4 verse
5, we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves
your servant for Jesus sake, for God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. God must command the light to
shine. And when he shines that light
of the gospel in our heart, what do we see? We see the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When Paul writes about that in
Colossians, he puts it this way, Colossians chapter one, giving
thanks unto the father who had made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light who had delivered us
from the power of darkness and had translated us into the kingdom
of his dear son in whom we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of his sins, forgiveness of sin, who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn or Lord of every creature. We were blind. He gives us eyes
to see Him. We are in darkness. He shines
the light of the gospel in our heart and causes us to believe
that we should show forth the praises of Him who called us
out of darkness into His marvelous light. When the Lord is pleased
to give us life in Christ, He reveals Himself to us as the
all-sufficient Savior to take away our sin. We see ourselves
as sinners. We see the only remedy for our
sin is for the Lord Jesus Christ to come in our room and in our
stead and to take our sin and to put them away. That's our
hope. We had the forgiveness of our
sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. We see how he can be both a just
God and Savior in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the third
thing we see. Look at verse 18. Acts 26 verse 18, "...to open
their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power
of the evil one, Satan, unto God, that they may receive what
they need." What do we need? We need the forgiveness of our
sins. We need the forgiveness of our
sin. The Lord, in saving mercy, gives
us complete and total forgiveness of our sins. You remember Paul,
when he preaches, the first sermon he preaches turned to Acts 13. Acts chapter 13, verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. You see it? Acts 13 38. And by
him all that believe are justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. How are we justified? Justified freely by his grace
through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the
Lord Jesus Christ we have the... we receive. What do we receive?
WE RECEIVE THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS. COMPLETE PARDON FOR
ALL OUR SIN. IN CHRIST, IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION
THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN ACCORDING TO THE RICHES
OF HIS GRACE. JOHN PUT IT THIS WAY, THE BLOOD
OF JESUS CHRIST, GOD'S SON, CLEANSES US FROM ALL OUR SIN. AND NOTICE IT SAYS THAT THEY
MAY RECEIVE THIS. HOW DO WE RECEIVE IT? We receive
it by faith. Faith looks to the Lord Jesus
Christ for our total and complete forgiveness, not by works of
righteousness, which we've done, but according to his mercy, he
saves us. We receive the forgiveness of
sin, not by our works, not by our doing, by his grace, through
the shedding of his blood. And this forgiveness of sin is
complete forgiveness. We'd be in big trouble if He
didn't give us complete and total forgiveness of sin. All our sin. God said their sin and their
iniquity, well, I remember no more. We have the complete and
total forgiveness of all our sin. We have the eternal forgiveness. This is not a temporary thing.
It's eternal. He obtained for us, what? Eternal
redemption with His own blood. And it's free forgiveness. Free
forgiveness. God who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? We receive this forgiveness of
sin as His gift. And it's a just forgiveness,
isn't it? He's the only just God and Savior. He's the just
one. He's just and the justifier of
those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have right
now, before God, we've received this as His gift, forgiveness
of sins. And here's the fourth thing,
an inheritance. We have an inheritance. We have
an inheritance in Him. In the salvation of sinners,
His elect, by the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have the whole inheritance of grace. the whole inheritance
of grace. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. When Peter writes about this
inheritance that we have in him, turn over there to 1 Peter 3. When he writes about this inheritance,
it's an inheritance of grace that's incorruptible, it's undefiled,
1 Peter 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 3, who according to His abundant
mercy hath begotten us again into a living hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last day. We're heirs of God. You remember that verse I quoted
this morning or we read this morning. For you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your
sake he became poor that you through his poverty might be
made rich. Christ is our inheritance. We have the richness of everything
that God has for us in the Lord Jesus Christ, an inheritance,
an inheritance of grace. I was talking to someone the
other day, I was in one of these stores and met an old friend
of mine. And we were talking about people
we used to know and people who had passed on and died. And he
said, well, He said, at least I'm still here among the living. He said, that other alternative
is not good. Dying, he said, is not good.
I want to live right here. I said, for the believer, it's
good. To live here is Christ, but to
die is gain. Aren't you glad that our hope
is just not here? OUR HOPE IS AN ETERNAL HOPE WE
HAVE IN CHRIST. THAT MAN'S HOPE WAS JUST WHAT
HE HAS RIGHT HERE AND NOW. THE ALTERNATIVE IS NOT GOOD.
IT IS FOR BELIEVERS. THAT'S WHAT WE LOOK FOR, THAT
INHERITANCE, THAT HEAVENLY INHERITANCE WE HAVE IN CHRIST. SO, TO OPEN
THEIR EYES, TO TURN THEM FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, FROM THE POWER
OF SATAN UNTO GOD, THAT THEY MAY RECEIVE THE FORGIVENESS OF
SINS, and inheritance. The inheritance embraced among
them. Here's the last thing, sanctified
by faith. Notice, sanctified by faith,
that is in me. Saving faith has an object. Saving faith always looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our sanctification. We're not sanctified by what
we do, no more than we're justified by the deeds of the law. We're
not sanctified by the deeds of the law. We're sanctified in
Christ. Saving faith looks to the Lord
Jesus Christ for justification. Remember Romans 5, 1? Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How are we sanctified? By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith that is in Christ. He is made unto us, that verse
we quote all the time, But of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and he's our redemption. He's the whole package. Everything
this sinner needs to stand before God is provided fully in my Redeemer,
in our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. We receive the forgiveness
of our sin the same way we receive the sanctification of our soul,
by faith in Christ. Those who are blessed to hear
the gospel are given faith to receive the word of the gospel.
Those who are blessed to hear the gospel and are given faith
to receive the gospel can truly say what the Apostle Paul looked
back at verse 2, Acts 26, I think myself happy. Happy. We've got eyes to see him. We've
been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of
God, dear son. We have the forgiveness of sins.
We have an eternal inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
has sanctified us, set apart for his glory. I thank myself happy. Okay, Rippa. That word happy means blessed
of God, blessed of God. Whenever I see that word blessed,
I think of the times we see that in the book of Psalms. Remember
in Psalm 32 it says, Blessed is he, happy is he, whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is a man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
Oh, that's a blessed man. That's a happy man. Psalm 34
verse 8, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is
the man that trusteth Him. I think myself happy, King Agrippa. Psalm 65, Blessed is the man
whom the Lord chooses and causes to approach unto Him. Oh, that's
a happy man. That's a blessed man. Psalm 85,
Excuse me, Psalm 84 verse 5, Blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee, whose heart are the ways of them. We're blessed my
friend. God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think myself happy. happy,
blessed of God in so, so many ways. All grace now, as the old
timers used to say, God gives us all grace now and glory forever. That's blessing.